Small Moments
by Griddlebone
Summary: Their bond was formed on a great journey... and in the small moments along the way. A manga-flavored serial. Part 33 - A new day dawns, but trouble (as usual) isn't far behind.
1. A Meeting of Necessity

"Please, Miroku," Kagome begged, her eyes as big and wide as they would go. "Will you at least take a look at her?"

He knew immediately who Kagome meant by "her", and could not quite hide his surprise at the request. She was talking about the slayer. He hadn't thought they would willingly let him within a foot of this new girl, considering she was completely incapacitated and they didn't seem to trust him one bit. And yet here was Kagome, asking for his help.

It didn't hurt her case that she was looking a little the worse for wear, and as if she might be sick at any moment. He had known the slayer girl was grievously injured, but had no real idea what to expect. Kagome had taken it upon herself to act as the group's healer and mender-of-wounds, but obviously something about the slayer's injuries had deeply upset her. It would do no good to approach Inuyasha about the issue, and thus, out of necessity, she had come to him.

"Please?"

With a weary sigh, he resigned himself to the inevitable. "I will see what I can do."

"Oh, thank you, Miroku!" Quietly, more sullenly, she added, "I'd never forgive myself if she died!"

As he pushed himself to his feet, Miroku wondered when she had become so attached to a girl that until quite recently had been trying to kill their companion. At the same time, he knew he could not in good conscience simply leave her to die.

When he stepped into the hut, or what remained of it, he did not know what to expect. Obviously something had turned Kagome's stomach, or she would never have allowed him to treat a woman without supervision.

He knelt beside the woman; Sango, he thought her name was. She lay so still that for a moment he thought she might already be dead. Only a closer look revealed the slow, shallow movements of her breathing.

Kagome had already removed the slayer's uniform, but had abandoned her post as the group's healer shortly thereafter. She'd covered the other girl with a blanket and fled, leaving even her first-aid kit behind in her flight from the hut.

As soon as he pulled the blanket back, he saw what had her so upset. His breath caught in his throat and stuck there uncomfortably.

This girl's wounds were massive. There was blood everywhere. He had no idea how she had made it as far as she did, much less taken Inuyasha on in battle, in her condition. Were it him, he would have stayed abed a month or more before he would consider himself healed enough to attempt to walk at all, much less fight.

She was covered in old scars; perhaps covered was the wrong word. There were a few here on her arm, a few scattered there across her shoulder. In fact, she was remarkably un-scarred for one in her line of work, save for the wounds in her back. It appeared that she had been shot, several times, with arrows, and recently, too. But the largest wound, in the center, was a mystery. No mere cut, this, but a deep puncture wound. Something large and bladed had caused it, but he had no idea what.

He knew enough to know that she had been in Naraku's clutches before falling in with their little group… and that bastard had to have something to do with these wounds. He just had not realized that Naraku would resort to physical torture rather than his more typical methods of prolonged emotional torment.

He realized he was staring at his own hand, bound against Naraku's curse, and forced himself to look away.

He supposed that in the end it did not matter what had caused this, only that he patched it up as best he could in the hopes that she might live. But as he carefully selected supplies from Kagome's first aid kit, he knew that no matter what he did, even with his very best effort, this wound would not knit clean. For the rest of her days, this girl, Sango, would bear this scar on her back. And he had to wonder, even if she lived, if she would ever be whole again.

* * *

Notes: This story is a serial, of sorts. It will follow Miroku and Sango through the _InuYasha _manga, including moments we get to see in the canon and possible events to fill in the gaps that we don't.


	2. Houshisama

Sango had always hated bedrest. But for now, while her body was weak and refused to obey her will, she had no choice but to accept it.

She lay on a tattered old futon, covered by what remained of an old kosode that by chance happened to be hers. By some miracle, this hut had survived the demon attack that had slain the villagers and destroyed much of the town. The building was whole, even if its contents were in disarray and the air was stale and smelled of dust.

And so Sango lay listlessly on her side, so as to avoid putting pressure on her healing injuries, and let her attention wander. It was dim inside. Someone had hung a mat over the entryway. Sunlight filtered through, along with occasional quiet sounds from outside. There was the ever-present sound of a fire, the occasional rumble-scrape of something heavy being dragged along, a shouted exclamation... She half allowed herself to imagine that they were rebuilding the village, or at least trying to help.

They… Inuyasha, Kagome, the kitsune, and the monk.

The people she had at first thought to be enemies, to be responsible for the destruction of her village. Only now it turned out that they were… if not friends, then allies, at least. They had destroyed Naraku's puppet, and got him to reveal that everything that had befallen the Taijiya had been his doing. And then they had brought her home, and treated her wounds, and waited for her to heal.

And, she had to admit, there was little more she could do now. Like it or not, she had survived her family and her village, and there was nothing to do but rest, heal, and seek revenge if she could.

For the most part her new companions left her in peace, and gentle quiet reigned over what remained of the Taijiya village. The quietude was punctuated, a few times, by vehement arguments.

Sango recognized the voices as belonging to Inuyasha and Kagome. They were a strange pair, if she had ever seen one. Contemplating their strangeness – from Kagome's unusual clothing to Inuyasha's bizarre attachment to her – helped both to pass the time and to stave off the mind-numbing boredom of recovery.

They were both searching for shards of the Shikon Jewel, like the one that had caused her village to be destroyed, but beyond that she knew precious little. Kagome did not wish to burden her with their story while she was still healing. She would have loved to hear, if only to alleviate her boredom. How had such a strange, otherworldly girl come to travel with a half demon, and share the same quest for a jewel that was not supposed to exist? But she knew for now she would have to resign herself to curiosity.

The kitsune child, Shippou, was far more forthcoming with both his story and his willingness to spend time entertaining her. He sympathized with her, she gathered, because he had watched his own family be slain by vicious demons, just as her family had been destroyed. But his antics made her smile, however small the spark of happiness within her empty heart, and for that she was grateful.

The fourth member of their party was far more mysterious: a Buddhist monk, who she vaguely recalled having seen before engaging in battle with Inuyasha.

So fleeting was his presence that at first she wondered if she had merely imagined him. It was only as the days passed and he returned, occasionally, to check on the progress of her healing that she realized he was real. But by the time three days had passed, her wounds had healed enough that he left her care up to Kagome, and she saw him no more.

When she eventually worked up the courage to ask about him, Kagome informed her that his name was Miroku and that he was indeed traveling with their group, adding a grave warning that he was a lecherous man and prone to taking advantage of women… but by that point he was already 'Houshi-sama', and Sango could not quite believe a monk to be capable of such dishonorable actions.


	3. A Kind Gesture

Miroku paused, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a sleeve, and surveyed the area.

It was covered in debris; the demon horde had definitely done its job when it attacked the village of Taijiya. What had seemed like a good idea at the time, putting the village back in order to help pass the time while the slayer girl healed, was now beginning to look like an insurmountable task. He didn't think he would ever finish, even if the girl spent a month or more recovering.

His gaze fell on the surly hanyou. Inuyasha had been mysteriously absent for much of the day, but now he was crouched nearby, watching Miroku with something akin to consternation in his eyes.

Amused, Miroku turned his attention back to the log he had been hauling. Judging by the size of it, it had once been part of a support beam for some building. He managed to drag it the last short distance to the fire and, expending more effort than he would have liked to admit, heaved it on top of the burning pile of timber. Sparks shone and drifted lazily upward, fading against the late afternoon sky.

He watched for a moment, entranced and calm.

"Just what are you up to, monk?" The peaceful moment was irreparably shattered by the irate hanyou's voice. Miroku sighed.

"Just cleaning up a bit," he replied amiably.

Inuyasha did not seem impressed by the explanation. He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "What for?"

Miroku paused for a moment, considering. Finally, he decided, "It's simply a kind gesture."

Inuyasha gave him a dubious look, but had nothing more to say. For now, anyway.


	4. Consigned to Memory

There was a row of fresh graves at the edge of the village. Small wonder it had seemed so quiet and empty; there was no one left.

Sango approached slowly, mindful of her weakened condition, but drawn inexorably closer. The graves told their story even from a distance. They were arranged neatly, one beside the other, and each with its owner's weapon laid lovingly on top. She could name them all: family, friends, comrades-in-arms.

She needed to see them, the final resting places of everyone she had ever known.

With slow, careful steps, she came to stand beside the fallen ones. Memories of her own grave flashed through her head, and a fleeting question: _why did I survive_?

Shaking from the effort of holding her weary, injured body upright, she sank gratefully to the ground. Kirara, her ever present companion, _chirr_-ed mournfully. There was no helping it. They were all that was left.

She heaved a shuddering sigh, borne of loneliness that went all the way to her core. She had never been _alone_ before. It was an eerie, unsettling feeling, half expecting Father or Kohaku or one of the others to come by at any moment and ask what was wrong, knowing that they never would.

She tried to imagine the village as it had been, as it should have been: lively, happy, filled with people. But the memory skittered away, just out of reach, leaving her alone in the empty ruins of her home.

There was no one left. It was the simple truth, or as close to it as she could get without wanting to curl in on herself and die beside her fallen comrades. And yet she found she had no tears to shed.

Nothing would ever be the same. Everything was gone, irretrievable. Her past was consigned to memory... and her future had become merely a might have been. But she had to carry on, for those that could not. There was just one question.

_Where do I go from here?_

There came the sound of footsteps, soft and faltering, behind her. Sango did not turn to look; she knew who it would be.

"Sango-san..." The voice confirmed her guess. It was Kagome. "Sango-san, you shouldn't be up and about just yet..."

Sango had not been able to stay in that ruined hut one more moment. She had needed to get out. It did not matter that she was still healing and weak, only that she needed to see the damage with her own eyes. It was not entirely unexpected to see the village so destroyed, but this... "You made graves for everyone."

"Yeah," Kagome murmured. "About that... Since there's nobody left, what do you think of coming along with us?"

Sango turned, then. She needed to see the other girl's face. Uncertainty and hope were reflected in equal parts in Kagome's eyes; Shippo peered eagerly over her shoulder. They were serious. Even after everything she had done, after she had tried to kill them all, they wanted her to join them. And how could she refuse? They had helped her. They had held funeral rites for the dead. They shared her objective - they wanted to destroy Naraku as much as she did. And... she wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

"You're gathering pieces of the Shikon jewel, right?" Kagome nodded. "And Naraku is after them as well?" Another nod. "Then that means he will come after you again at some point."

"Yes," Kagome agreed.

"Then I'll go with you."

Excitement flashed across the other girl's face, but faded quickly. "You want to avenge everyone, don't you?"

Sango sighed. "I have to."


	5. A History Lesson

It had started with a conversation beside the graves, Kagome said. The slayer girl, Sango, had agreed to travel with their group in the hopes of avenging the fallen slayers, and she had also offered to tell them the story of the Shikon jewel's creation. So their next step was an arduous trek up the side of a mountain, in search of a cave they had already visited once. But this time, Miroku supposed, it would be different; this time they had Sango, and she would be able to answer their questions.

Their progress was slowed by the fact that Sango was unable to make the trip on her own and had to be carried. He had offered to do the job himself, but had been quickly rebuffed by his companions, and so the task was left to Inuyasha. The confused look on her face in response to their overzealous reaction was enough to brighten his day in spite of the fact that his friends clearly still did not trust him one bit around women.

He sobered quickly as they reached the cave, air whistling ominously from the hole in the mountain. The group paused only for a moment, just outside the entrance, before proceeding. It was chilly inside, damp and eerie and disconcerting.

"Have any of you been inside this cave before?" Sango asked. "And seen _it_?"

"That great big mummy? Yeah," Inuyasha answered.

"Yes, that." Inuyasha helped her down then, so she might sit and lean against the wall rather than cling to him. Once she was settled, she went on to explain how innumerable demons had gathered their power together, merging into one enormous being in an attempt to defeat a single human being. The dozen or so types of demon she listed explained the bizarre shape of the creature they had seen entombed here. And it might also explain something Miroku had seen and wondered about earlier.

It was at that very moment that they came upon the mummy. _Good timing_, Miroku thought as he wandered over to take a better look, though he was not sure she had timed her speech for dramatic effect so much as waited to start her story until they were inside the cave. His gaze fell on the human shape protruding from the side of the remains. "So this _is _a human, then," he mused. "To judge by the armor, an ancient general of some sort."

"Wrong." Her tone was almost... bored. "Many centuries ago, this was a woman. A priestess."

It made sense, when he stopped to think about it. When it came to fighting demons, one holy person was worth a hundred, or even a thousand, warriors.

Sango told them the story of a time of great war and strife, in which many humans died and, consequently, demons were much stronger than they were now. A priestess named Midoriko had surpassed all others in taking care of the threat; the legend said she was able to purify ten demons at once. Sango explained how this was done, seemingly oblivious to the growing confusion Miroku could see in his other companions. "She had a special ability that allowed her to drive out souls and purify them."

"Drive out souls and purify them?" Kagome echoed.

"Yes, any of the four souls."

And, with that, it looked like she had lost Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippou. Miroku stepped in smoothly. "In Shinto thinking, it is said that 'shikon' is made up of ara-mitama, nigi-mitama, kushi-mitama, and saki-mitama. These four principles - courage, family, wisdom, and love - come together to form one spirit," he explained, though the others looked as confused as ever. "Human nature is correctly maintained between these four parts."

For a moment there was silence; only Sango looked as if she had understood a word he had said. In fact, she looked to be halfway between pleased and bored by his explanation. He had guessed that this might be the case, and had not considered discussing philosophy with his companions before. Between Kagome's strange ideas of how things ought to be and Inuyasha's general ignorance, there had seemed no point to the endeavor. But perhaps Sango would be a more interesting addition to the group than he had previously thought.

"... And then?" Inuyasha prompted crossly.

Miroku shrugged. There really was not much more to it, even if Inuyasha was too stupid to see that. "If you do evil, then the shikon will follow."

"He means that souls can become good or evil, depending on a person's thoughts and actions," Sango clarified.

"Right," Miroku agreed with a heavy sigh.

They let that topic go, and Sango returned to her story. Miroku only half listened, instead shifting his attention between the mummy and Sango. The demon slayer looked weary. This trip had taken more out of her than she was willing to admit, but he could see she was not going to back down and leave the job unfinished. His heart skipped a beat - something she said struck a chord, even though he had only half heard: "To defeat Midoriko, many demons merged into one, using a human body with an evil heart as an anchor to bind them."

It sent a shudder down his spine; it was as if she had just repeated the story of Naraku's creation... only this tale had occurred centuries earlier. "Inuyasha," he interjected, fearing the hanyou might have failed to pick up on the parallel, "This is just like Naraku... when the thief Onigumo sold his soul to the demons and became Naraku."

"Naraku was -" There was something like anger in Sango's voice.

"Just finish the story already," Inuyasha interrupted. "When she fought the demons, did Midoriko win or lose?"

Reluctantly, frustration evident on her face, Sango continued. "The battle went on for seven days and seven nights, and in the end her power was exhausted."

"What happened then?" Kagome prodded, no doubt seeing a bit of herself - or Kikyou - in the ancient warrior priestess.

Sango shrugged. "The demon ate her. It tried to absorb her soul... but she used the last of her power to push its soul out of its body, and hers with it. They both died, right here, but their souls clumped together and did not die. All that remained was a jewel, the Shikon no Tama. And inside it, Midoriko's soul continues to do battle with the demon she could not defeat in life."

"This is why the jewel can be tainted or purified, depending on who has control of it..." Miroku mused.

"Yes," Sango said, nodding. "If a demon or evil person holds it, then the taint grows and the demon becomes stronger. If someone with a pure heart holds it, then it is purified and Midoriko grows stronger. That's what our legends say, anyway." She paused for a moment to let that sink in. It made sense with what they already knew of the jewel. "The jewel changed hands many times over the centuries," she continued, "but all I know is that my grandfather found it and brought it back to our village again. He got it from a demon, but he died soon after from the wounds it had inflicted. It was very tainted, so my father gave it to a priestess to purify it and watch over it, and ensure it did not fall into the wrong hands again."

That priestess, Miroku knew, had been Kikyou. She had died with the jewel and it had disappeared, only to return somehow to start trouble all over again. It was much the same as how Kikyou herself had returned and caused all sorts of problems.

The whole thing was a mess, convoluted and sometimes mind-bending. Even if they managed to kill Naraku, they would have to find a way to destroy the jewel for good or it would simply keep coming back, that much was obvious. Even Sango did not seem to have the answer they needed.

Inuyasha broke the silence, leaping headlong and wholeheartedly into this newest challenge just as he did with every other obstacle he faced. "If the jewel keeps turning everything to evil, I'm gonna put a stop to it, with my own hands."

_A worthy sentiment... I almost believe you._ He knew as well as Inuyasha that they needed to take care of the jewel, or else another Naraku would simply crop up somewhere. It was almost amusing, the way a group of people with such different backgrounds and motivations had been drawn together for a common cause; he might almost call it fate. Inuyasha thought of Kikyou, and of avenging her and his own ruined past; Kagome felt the responsibility for the jewel's return keenly; Sango sought revenge for her village. And as for Miroku, he had his reasons too, and his right hand twitched slightly, as if he needed a reminder.

Sango sighed, then. She looked as if she might pass out at any moment.

"I think it would be best if we returned to the village," Miroku suggested. Kagome followed his line of sight to Sango and agreed immediately. Even Inuyasha made no protest; he must have figured out that they would learn no more here, so there was no point in lingering.

"Yeah, let's go," the hanyou said quietly. Kagome nodded her agreement.

They approached Sango together, but Miroku noticed that they made sure to carefully place themselves between him and her, as if to block any potential mischief. Miroku smiled faintly. The lengths they would go to in order to "protect" Sango from him, even when he had given them no cause to think him a threat...

"Kagome, help her onto my back, would ya?" Inuyasha asked, and almost didn't sound grumpy about it.

"It would be my pleasure to assist," he offered.

"No!" Inuyasha and Kagome said at almost the same time.

Miroku sighed.


	6. A New Chapter

They were ready to leave. There was nothing left for them here, and enough of Sango's strength had returned that she could handle herself without assistance. She was still reluctant to leave.

She perched on a handy outcrop of rock and stared forlornly at the small bundle at her feet. It contained everything she owned. Her entire life, or what was left of it, in such a small package… there was no longer any home to return to, even if she wanted to. The village was empty, her family and friends dead and gone.

And, for all that, she was not truly alone. She was fortunate enough to have found new companions, a group of kind strangers that shared her quest. She glanced up at the four of them; they graciously pretended to be patient, as if they were waiting of their own accord, and not for her sake.

She should have known the peace and quiet wouldn't last long with Inuyasha and Kagome around. Sango watched, happy for the distraction, as the other girl scanned the horizon. "Even after all this, we have no idea where to find Naraku," she commented, breaking through the awkward silence, though she did not sound nearly as forlorn as her words might imply. Sango envied her optimism.

"Sango," Inuyasha cut in, "don't you remember anything about where that castle was?"

She had told them all that she remembered, and resented the implication that she had not. Her voice was harsh when she responded. "If I remembered, I would already be on my way there to take Naraku's head."

"Maybe we shouldn't be looking for the castle in the first place," Miroku suggested.

"Then what _should_ we be looking for?" Inuyasha demanded.

"Shikon shards. If we collect them, Naraku will come to us."

Sango knew the truth of that well: she had unwittingly brought a Shikon shard back to her village, without realizing just what dangers it could bring, and Naraku had destroyed the entire village to obtain it. If they managed to get even one shard, he would be unable to resist hunting them down to take it from them.

"Sango... is that okay with you, too?" The monk had approached so smoothly that she did not hear him until he was crouching beside her. She had not expected them to take her feelings into consideration, but the look of honest concern on his face soothed her frayed temper. He was certainly good at smoothing ruffled feathers. "I know you want to get your revenge as soon as possible, but..."

"It's annoying," she agreed, "but there isn't much else we can do right now."

"I understand how you feel."

Moved by his compassion as much as the intensity of his stare, all she could manage for a moment was a quiet, "Houshi-sama…" Followed shortly by, "What do you think you're doing?"

Frowning in distaste, she pried away the hand that had insinuated itself against her thigh.

Houshi-_sama_, indeed.

Perhaps Kagome hadn't been entirely wrong after all.


	7. On the Road

Four travelers had arrived together at the village of the Taijiya... but five left it.

On the surface, it was almost as if nothing had changed, but Miroku could feel the subtle ripple of the group's altered dynamic. He had not been entirely surprised to hear that Sango was going to be traveling with them for the time being - leave it to Kagome to make yet another new friend - but he took some interest in observing how each of them adjusted to the new addition. They were a strange procession, all things considered: a monk, a miko, a hanyou, a youkai, and now a Taijiya.

Inuyasha led the way, with the girls behind him and Miroku bringing up the rear. He seemed perfectly comfortable dictating their course, and did not receive much protest from the others. His way was as good as any until they got some sort of clue to the whereabouts of a jewel shard.

They let the afternoon slip by in silence or quiet conversation, content merely to wander. Inuyasha's posture was almost conspicuously rigid. But, Miroku noted, a keen eye would see the way he occasionally glanced backward, almost jealously, toward where Kagome walked beside Sango. He had lost his companion to the excitement of having a new, female friend.

For his part, Miroku was content to trail behind the others; he found this gave him a better vantage point, and not just because he now had not one, but two lovely ladies to observe. In any case, the girls were an interesting comparison. From looking at them, it was difficult to believe they were on an urgent quest, save for the slightest bit of melancholy in Sango's expression and posture. Kagome walked beside her, chatting animatedly, a stark contrast to Sango's more reserved disposition.

Kagome was a young woman, but she looked almost frail and girlish beside Sango's more mature figure, though his view was obstructed by the enormous weapon the Taijiya carried, hampering his ability to properly compare. He knew from previous experience that Kagome needed a protector or else was likely to be kidnapped or wounded in battle, but Sango was another story.

She could take care of herself, and quite handily, too. He had seen evidence of that firsthand. And not just during her initial fight with Inuyasha, but later, before they had left the village. She had seemed so sad and lonely that he'd forgotten he was trying to behave, but she'd stopped him before he could do anything inappropriate. And that, he had to admit, made him curious. Just what, if anything, would she let him get away with?

Kagome - and Inuyasha, ever-zealous protector - had not let him get away with much of anything. But Sango...

Just then, Shippou cast a baleful look over Kagome's shoulder, as if he could tell what Miroku was thinking. The monk feigned unperturbed innocence, but wondered how long it would take for his companions to realize he was no threat. Not that sort of threat, anyway.

It was the curse in his hand that might get him, and them, in trouble someday.


	8. Shady Situation

Traveling with Inuyasha and the others, Sango found, could be quite overwhelming. It was almost as if, in their efforts to be respectful of the healing process and give her a little peace, they had allowed themselves to fill up with enthusiasm and were overflowing with it now. They had been walking for most of the afternoon, and she did not think there had been a moment of quiet the entire time.

She was unaccustomed to traveling with other women. The Taijiya hunting parties had mostly consisted of men, even though the women were also trained for battle; however, most of the women were trained in defense and expected to keep the village safe while the men were away. Sango had been an anomaly, but it had been decided early on that her skill was too great to confine her to merely a defensive role. She could do a lot more good for the village and its clients by going out into the world and fighting.

It was a strange sort of melancholy she felt, listening to Kagome chatter and supplying the occasional noncommittal response. It was all so very different from what she had known before.

The men from her village might have considered her their little sister, and treated her as such, and they might have made ribald jokes from time to time... but they knew to be focused and aware of their surroundings and to put their duty first. This was ridiculous. She knew the other girl might have the best of intentions, but Kagome's comparative noisiness was giving her a headache.

So she watched Inuyasha for a while. He did have the look of a leader about him, sometimes. With maturity, the hanyou might someday be a good leader, but right now she saw mainly jealousy in his face and posture. He kept looking back at Kagome, instead of focusing on what was ahead of and around them. She supposed that with his keen sense of smell, it was assumed that he did not need to watch as carefully as a human might. She thought of the scent beads she carried in her pack, and did not like being so dependent on something so easily misled.

But for better or worse, Inuyasha was the leader of their group right now. It wouldn't do to question his authority right away; she had only just joined them, after all. For now she resolved to be as aware as possible to make up for any lack, though it was difficult to focus - and listen - with Kagome constantly demanding her attention.

Sango sighed and hoped that Houshi-sama was being more vigilant.

As the afternoon wore into evening, they came upon a main road. There were many men about, and it looked as if there had been a great deal of destruction recently. Sango's first thought was that Naraku may have been behind it, but a closer inspection revealed the damage to have most likely come from a flood.

Without saying a word, the group had bunched closer together. Even Kagome and Shippou had fallen silent.

They paused at the crest of a hill to listen to the hustle and bustle below. The men working to clean up the area were talking amongst themselves; a procession of some sort, carrying a palanquin, passed by. The discussion turned dark as the procession went past, giving Sango a chill.

"Almost all the children in the village have been given up as sacrifices now..."

"Whose child is it this time?"

"... To protect the village from Suijin-sama's curse..."

Sango stood a short distance away from the others, watching uneasily.

"Did you hear that?" Houshi-sama asked.

"Sacrifices..." Kagome confirmed sadly.

"Hey," Inuyasha interrupted, speaking loudly to address the men in the procession. "You call it 'Suijin', but it's really just a demon, isn't it?"

Sango was stunned by his audacity, though she found herself agreeing with his assessment of the situation; Houshi-sama, more accustomed to Inuyasha's antics, stepped in as the leader of the local men sputtered indignantly. "Don't mind him," the monk said smoothly. "If it is acceptable to you, please allow me to appease this god."

"You can do that?" one of the men asked, his expression a mixture of awe and hope.

"Don't be fooled!" the leader snarled. "He's just a trickster dressed like a monk. If we trust him, Suijin-sama will surely be angry enough to destroy the entire village!"

"But Nanushi-sama, won't you even let them talk..."

The man looked suddenly distraught, large tears spilling out of his eyes as if on command. "Now that it's my own child's turn, don't you think I just want this to be over with? Come on, we don't have all day! Let's get moving!"

"What's going on?" Kagome whispered. She was watching the palanquin, where a child in a sacrificial mask had just peeked from between the curtains.

Sango shook her head; it was not a good time to try to explain. The entire situation was no good. These villagers had been pushed to the point where they would willingly sacrifice their own children to some supposed 'Suijin-sama' in the hopes of ending the hard times... a Suijin-sama that was, no doubt, nothing more than a clever demon. And that Nanushi-sama, the headman... he was up to something.

The Taijiya would not have allowed something like this to continue, and she felt a strong urge to step in and stop the foolishness, but it was not her place to do so.

She kept her opinion to herself until night had fallen. In the comfortable silence after camp had been set and everyone fed, it came spilling out almost of its own accord. "That village headman was suspicious," she said. "He seemed almost anxious to sacrifice his own child..."

Such a thing would never have happened in her village. And it should never have been allowed to happen here.

"It certainly does look like trouble," Houshi-sama agreed. Sango wondered what he thought of the situation, but Kagome did not give her the opportunity to ask.

"Say," the other girl was saying, "This probably sounds weird, or stupid, or something, but... inside that palanquin, there was this strange creature..."

So that was what had been bothering her. "It's a mask," Sango supplied.

"A mask?"

"For the sacrificial ceremony," Houshi-sama confirmed.

The atmosphere of the camp had grown tense. It was clear, at least to Sango, that they all wanted to do something about the situation, but no one was willing to get it out in the open. Except, of course, for Inuyasha. "So, what are we gonna do? Just leave it alone?"

He was toying with a small rock and looked almost bored. The fidgeting was the only outward sign that he was not at ease. Suddenly, he stiffened and tossed the rock into the trees. The motion looked almost random, but it earned a loud, "Ouch!" from within the forest.

Kagome and Shippou made sounds of surprise, peering into the trees in an attempt to see who - or what- was out there. Even Sango was chagrined; she had been lost in thought after their encounter with the sacrificial procession, and had not even noticed that they were being followed. She snuck a glance at Houshi-sama, but his expression was impassive and it was impossible to tell if he had been aware or not.

"You've been following us for a while now," Inuyasha said. "Why don't you come out and tell us what you want."

A figure emerged from the forest. It was a boy, a young boy that reminded her rather painfully of her brother when he had been that age. He had the same determination as Kohaku, though he seemed more confident and self-assured. And, it turned out, he was also a great deal less polite than her brother had ever been.

As he came into the camp, he tossed a large bundle into their midst. It landed with a clank between Sango and Houshi-sama.

"Take it! It's all yours!" the boy shouted.

Curious, Sango watched as the monk opened the bundle, revealing expensive-looking jewelry and tea sets, and quality rolls of fabric. It was an impressive selection, especially for a child so young. Even as she examined one of the bolts of fabric, Sango had to wonder where all this had come from. The boy certainly didn't look wealthy; he was covered in dirt and wore tattered clothing. Had he stolen it, then?

"There, now I've hired you guys," the boy continued. "You're gonna help me exterminate the Suijin."

As Inuyasha and Kagome descended into an inevitable argument over whether or not they were, in fact, hired, Houshi-sama looked up from the fancy tea pot he was holding and caught Sango's gaze. She got the impression, even without words, that he was wondering the same thing she was: what were they getting themselves into?


	9. A Child's Deception

The thought flitted through Miroku's head that this was probably not a good idea. They were in unfamiliar territory, in the dark, and following a child they did not know to be truthful. On top of that, they were burdened by the stolen goods said child had just used to bribe them into helping him. In the thick grass, there could be a trap anywhere; thanks to Inuyasha's nose and keen hearing, they did not have to worry about an ambush, but Miroku was still on high alert.

Something just felt wrong.

He could hear voices off in the distance, a quiet, murmuring backdrop to the boy's hastily spoken instructions. "There's a ship that takes the sacrifice to the Suijin's island," he was saying, "So we'll follow the ship and then you guys beat the Suijin up."

Leave it to a child to think beating someone up was ever the solution to anything. It might work, he supposed, if the Suijin were actually a demon and it was Inuyasha that did the beating. But if they were truly dealing with a god, as the villagers seemed to believe...

"Say," Kagome was saying, "just whose child are you?"

The boy froze up at that, and the whole group came to a stop. Miroku had been wondering much the same thing. Finally the boy managed a shaky, "I-it's none of your business! I just hired you to help me. You don't need to know who I -"

"Now listen up, kid," Inuyasha said, bopping the child on the head, "We haven't actually agreed to do anything."

"If we don't hurry, the whole village might be destroyed, not just the sacrifice," the boy said, frazzled and stuttering a bit. He had fully expected them to obey him after the bribe. And, clearly, there was something more at stake here than he had originally led them to believe. "Because the sacrifice is..."

"You're the village headman's son, aren't you?" Kagome asked gently. The boy nodded.

"Now that you say that, it makes a lot of sense," Miroku said, considering. It probably should have been more obvious.

Inuyasha, of course, chose to see the negative. "It also explains his arrogance."

Unperturbed, and carefully ignoring Inuyasha's grumpiness, Kagome continued, "So the one inside that palanquin is a substitute."

The gentle approach worked; Miroku glanced at Inuyasha, but the hanyou seemed to be as oblivious as ever, even as the boy began to tell his story.

"I am the heir to the village-head, Taroumaru," he explained. "My father... when the Suijin demands a village child for a sacrifice, it's what must be done. But when it was his own child that was chosen... He made me hide, and he took a servant's child.

"You could almost say that your father is stupid, or at least blind," Miroku mused.

"He is a stupid father." Leave it to Inuyasha to just bluntly say it like that.

Kagome sighed, but she had a kind smile on her face when she turned back to Taroumaru. "You want to save that child, don't you?"

"We're friends," the boy confessed.

As the conversation carried on without him, it occurred to Miroku that he knew what was wrong. They had lost Sango somewhere. He hoped she would be able to find them again, but it would be no easy task in the dark and surrounded by such tall...

There was a rustling in the grass behind them, and as he turned to look his thoughts ground to a halt. It was Sango, returning to the group, her mask around her neck and her weapon at the ready, clad in her battle armor. That armor... he'd almost forgotten. Black, supple, and _skintight_. It was a shame, he thought somewhat dazedly, that all the other Taijiya women were dead, and that more women did not choose to take up the mantle in their place.

The world could use more women dressed like that.


	10. Into the Water

Sango hung back from the group, listening with utter disbelief as Inuyasha seemed dead set against helping the subjugated villagers - and the child that had been offered up as a sacrifice. Was he really that callous, or was he just arguing for the sake of appearances? Sango frowned, her grip tightening reflexively on Hiraikotsu. For better or worse, she was ready.

"Let's go get that ship," she said, just as the boy admitted that the sacrifice was his friend and that he was, in fact, the headman's son. She hated to interrupt, but had seen no better opportunity to announce her plans. "I can't speak for the others," she continued, "but I'll help you."

Inuyasha made a face.

"Come on, Inuyasha," Kagome said with a pointed look at the hanyou. "Let's go!"

"Remember, we're also saving a person," Houshi-sama added. Sango smiled; the monk sounded suspiciously like the conscience Inuyasha liked to pretend he didn't have.

"Bah. God or demon... it doesn't matter," Inuyasha decided. "If he eats children, I'm not going easy on him." It seemed all he needed was the right push to admit he wanted to do the right thing, after all.

The headman's son, Taroumaru, looked a bit surprised at the sudden turnaround. Inuyasha didn't let that last long. "Hey, kid, you got a boat around here, or do we have to swim?"

"Uh," Taroumaru stuttered, "I think there's a boat hidden in the reeds over this way." He led them a short distance along the shore of the lake. It was really more like a swamp than a shore, Sango thought as she trudged along behind the others, grimacing at the way the muck pulled at her boots.

"There, I see it!" Kagome said. They followed where she had pointed and, sure enough, there was a small boat concealed nearby. "It's kinda small, though... I don't think we'll all fit..."

Sango glanced to Kirara. "I hate to ask, but..."

Kirara mewed, understanding what was asked of her. She leaped from her place on Sango's shoulder and transformed. Sango ran her fingers through Kirara's long fur, ignoring Taroumaru's fear and Kagome's whispered explanation of what was going on, and smiled. "I know you hate water, but we can't risk being seen," she murmured. "We're going to have to swim."

"Ah, that's right," Kagome said. "Without Sango we'll fit in the boat."

Inuyasha hauled the boat into the water. "Come on then, it's not like we've got all night."

As the others got into the boat, Sango took her place on Kirara's back. She could feel the chill of the water seeping through her armor - and she was glad she did not have to swim in it. Without waiting for orders, she urged Kirara to take the lead, moving in front of the boat to scout the way.

The dense reeds alone were enough to put her on edge, and the fog that rolled in after a few moments only heightened her wariness. It seemed that ominous figures surrounded them, fading in and out with the fog. But up ahead, there was definitely...

"Something's coming up," she announced. As they drew closer, a torii loomed out of the shadows.

She heard Taroumaru whisper that it was the Suijin's torii, and kept her gaze focused straight ahead. It was good to know they were heading in the right direction and that she had not somehow gotten them all lost. As they passed through the gate, an enormous building came into view. It could only be the Suijin's mansion... but there was no sign of a boat or the child sacrifice.

As if reading her thoughts, Houshi-sama said, "The sacrifice must already be inside..."

"Then hurry up!" Taroumaru ordered. "You have to save him before the switch is found out!"

Kirara moved aside to let Inuyasha pull the boat up to the edge of the mansion; they scouted along the front for a while, looking for an opening. There wasn't one. The only door was guarded by several fishy looking men, a fact which made Taroumaru balk but had Inuyasha flinging himself straight for them.

Sango sighed. She should have known he would be too rash to attempt a more strategic attack. She expected the others to be similarly unimpressed by his brute force approach, but they simply followed in his wake. Frustrated by the blatant lack of coordination - and planning - Sango could only hurry after them and hope that there was no ambush lying in wait inside.

But as they hurried into the compound, it became obvious that there was no ambush waiting and that the guards outside were mostly for show. The suijin - whatever it was - apparently believed the villagers to be so cowed that no one would dare investigate. Well, it was about to find out differently, if only they could find it.

It was obvious that they had no real idea where they were going. Sango had been eager to help, but now their lack of planning and proper investigation of the situation were making her worry. She couldn't help but fear that there was some secret attack waiting around every corner. Her mind flashed unpleasantly back to a castle courtyard and a spider demon...

_Clear your head, Sango... This is no time for dwelling on the past._

There was a commotion up ahead and to the left. Inuyasha headed straight for it, busting through a wall and a mob of fish-men to do it. He crashed through the wall and into a large room, flinging fish-men into the water on either side of the pathway.

As soon as they hit the water, the fish-men turned back into fish. Maybe there was something to Inuyasha's "no worries" approach, after all... "They're all just... fish!"

"It seems like it," Houshi-sama agreed. He leaped through the hole Inuyasha had left in the wall, as if the entire affair were an everyday occurrence. Sango followed. What else could she do, at this point?

The room was large and well built, but mostly empty. But there, when they stopped to look, was what must have been the Suijin: a tall, slimy looking man with a disgusting face, holding a small child up by the neck.

"So you're the man-eating Suijin, are you?" Inuyasha bellowed.

The Suijin did not answer. In fact, it ignored everyone except for Taroumaru, turning to eye him eagerly. "You, child," it said, its voice almost like a hiss. "You're filthy... but you're the headman's son, aren't you?"

At the sight of his friend, Taroumaru's resolve seemed to be breaking down. Sango took a defensive stance beside him even as he shouted, "Let Suekichi go, and then I'll be your sacrifice and -"

Inuyasha glared at the boy. "If that was your plan, why the hell did you bring us along, kid?" Turning back to the Suijin, he shouted, "Hey, you! You're really a demon, aren't you? I'll make you show what you really are!"

The Suijin said nothing, but reached with an arm that extended grotesquely, for a halberd that had been stashed against the back wall. It used the weapon to parry Inuyasha's attack. In a flash of holy light, he was flung to the ground, his sword's transformation was undone.

"Fool," the Suijin said finally. "Did you think a mere demon weapon could face my halberd?"

Back on his feet in an instant, Inuyasha countered, "So what?"

"Inuyasha, stop," Houshi-sama interrupted, but he had to physically stop the hanyou from attacking again. "This is worse than we thought. That halberd's the real deal. It's a true holy weapon."

"No way..." Kagome murmured. "So if he's holding that, he must be a god and not a demon, right?"

"What? You guys came all this way just to chicken out? So what if he says he's a god? He's acting just like a demon!"

Sango frowned. Inuyasha was at least partially correct. This Suijin was definitely not acting like a god, despite the evidence indicating that he was not a demon. However... she had a feeling this was no time for recklessness. "Don't be stupid. If this is a god we're dealing with, it's much more dangerous than a simple demon. Anger a god, and you'll be cursed for life."

"Right," Houshi-sama agreed. "It's too dangerous to just rush in."

"Too late," the Suijin said with a slithery smile. "You've already sinned against this holy place."

Inuyasha did not like the sound of that. "Oh yeah?" he growled. "Show me what you've got then, water god!"

Shippou cowered against Kagome's shoulder and whimpered, "Not a good idea, Inuyasha!" as the Suijin attacked. He waved the halberd wordlessly, almost casually, at the interlopers. Nothing happened for a moment, and then with a sudden, deafening _splash _the room filled with swirling water.

It rushed and pounded, sweeping them all up and out of the room, scattering their small group. Sango struggled against the current, searching amidst the white-rushing waters for any sign of her companions... but her focus was fading fast in the face of a rising wave of panic. She was reminded, horribly, of that other place where she had been unable to breathe - below ground, in her own grave.

She could not find Houshi-sama or Inuyasha or Kagome... She was abruptly slammed against something hard and solid. The ground? She could no longer tell which way was up or down, and allowed herself to be propelled by the current.

She did not want to die like this. As she fought against the steadily growing need for air, she looked, irrationally, for Houshi-sama. Vaguely, she knew it was foolish, a sign of delirium. Still... he had saved her life once before, maybe he could help her again.

But there was no sign of him, and when she tried to breathe, there was only water.


	11. Waterlogged

There was water everywhere.

After being tossed about in the current of summoned water, Miroku was not quite sure where he was, where the others were, or even which way was up. But suddenly, he hit the bottom. Struggling to regain his sense of balance, he gathered his legs beneath him and pushed upward. He broke the surface, gasping for air and glad to be alive.

He took a moment to catch his breath before swimming toward the nearest island. It was tiny, barely big enough for him to sit on, but it was dry, and it gave him a relatively safe place to consider what to do next. It was obvious that he was outside of the Suijin's mansion - he could see it looming distantly in the fog - but there was no sign of any of his companions. For a moment he thought they had all been separated, but a dark shape in the water nearby caught his attention.

It was Sango. He would recognize that enormous weapon - and that skintight black armor - anywhere.

She was face-down and not moving, her hair and armor forming a dark stain against the inky black water. Her hand still gripped her weapon, which drifted next to her. If not for the high, bright moon piercing through the fog, he might not have seen her there at all.

He did not even stop to think, just flew into action. He scrambled over to her, half swimming and half flailing as he sank into water that was deeper than he expected. With some effort, he managed to snag her, hooking his hands under her arms and awkwardly heaving her up onto the island with him. She was much heavier than she looked, probably due to the sheer size of that weapon she carried.

He disentangled the leather strap from her hand and set the boomerang and her sword aside. Her feline companion, Kirara, crawled out from underneath the boomerang and shook herself dry, watching him with keen interest. Miroku had not even noticed her there, and felt slightly self-conscious under that red-orange gaze... but right now he knew he needed to see to Sango. In the moonlight she looked very pale and still; it did not appear that she was breathing.

"Hang in there, Sango," he muttered, pressing his ear to her chest to listen. Her heart was still going, but she was definitely not breathing. She must have taken in water when the Suijin expelled them from the mansion. Well then, he would simply have to breathe for her.

She was not an unlovely woman, and the idea of kissing her - even in an attempt to breathe life back into her - held a certain appeal. It did not take much to convince him of the necessity; in fact it seemed to be the logical conclusion, almost a matter of course. And if it saved her life, he could hardly imagine that she would be opposed to such an action, even if it would ordinarily be an outrageous breach of decorum.

As it turned out, he was wrong about that.

Just as he was about to press his lips to hers, she opened her eyes.

And to judge by the force with which her hand connected with his face... she was _not_ pleased with him.


	12. Misplaced Trust

Sango felt dizzy... weak. She lingered for a long time between consciousness and sleep, her heart pounding slowly, her lungs never seeming to find enough air. She burned from her nose to her chest. _Water..._ she thought, dimly. She had taken in water when... she couldn't quite remember.

She knew she needed to find the others even as she was unsure of just who the others were; there was something urgent to be done, and every moment she spent here was a moment wasted.

She needed _air_. If she didn't breathe soon, she would suffocate. Was she still under the water? She hoped not. Finally, her lungs worked, and she drew a breath deep enough to stave off the dizziness and confusion.

She forced her eyes open because it was all she could manage, and found herself face to face with the monk. No, face to face was the wrong term; for all the look of shock on his face at her sudden awakening, he was so close to her that he might have kissed her with only the slightest tilt of his head.

In that moment, Sango forgot everything else. She had never let anyone this close to her before, let alone a man that she had perhaps admired from afar but barely knew. And certainly not in the middle of a dangerous battle. Her heart was suddenly beating faster and faster, the sluggishness and aching in her body all but forgotten. One thought echoed in her head:

_Kagome was right!!_

Her face contorted with anger and her hand moved on its own, by instinct and lifelong training, and slapped him forcefully away.

He grunted, protesting uselessly that, "It's not what you think!"

On the contrary, she knew _exactly_ what he had been up to, or could at least wager a guess. Before he could react, she scrambled out of reach, settling a short distance away with an angry huff. Her hand stung from the impact with his face, and an echoing pain blossomed in her heart. She had _trusted him_, in spite of the numerous warnings she had been given. And she had been wrong.

Somehow the breach of trust, trust she had given so easily, hurt more than her wounded pride. After a few long moments of awkward silence, she risked a quick glance in the monk's direction. Miroku looked for all the world as if he truly believed some grave mistake had occurred; Sango fixed him with an unsympathetic glare. He had tried to take advantage at the first opportunity that presented itself, just as Kagome had warned he might.

He might win over other girls so easily, girls with fickle hearts and little to lose... but not her. She knew what he was up to now, and she was not going to let him take advantage of her. There was too much at stake. Her quest was too important. She couldn't risk letting someone like him get in her way.

She had to put up with him - for now - because she needed his help, just as she needed Inuyasha and Kagome... but she wouldn't make the same mistake again.


	13. Regrouping

"Where are we?"

Miroku had assumed that the stony silence would last until someone had a brilliant idea; Sango's outburst caught him a bit off guard. And not just her outburst, but the angry tone that suffused her voice. Still, determined to minimize the damage his ill-considered actions may have caused, he did his best to keep his own voice calm and rational when he responded. He had not intended to cause offense, and he hoped she would eventually realize that. "We are outside the Suijin's mansion."

Sango looked unimpressed.

"I was also here when I awoke," he added. It was not the entire truth, but he hoped it might make her feel better. "I saw you in the water... I was worried you might have -"

"Something's coming."

He strained to see in the dark and the fog - and wondered how Sango knew something was coming - before he caught sight of a red form in the water. "Inuyasha..."

There were a pair of large fish pushing the hanyou in their direction. Fish... both of which were wearing ornate headdresses. He would have bet money that these were servants of the water god, and had to wonder what they were doing helping the intruders. As soon as they got close enough, he helped them push Inuyasha up onto the island.

He heard Sango mutter, "Are you going to help _him_ breathe, too?"

Smoothly, he answered, "He is breathing on his own. You were not."

She looked as if her temper was still hot, so he let it drop. Once he and Sango had Inuyasha safely out of the water, he turned back to the fish. "Did you also assist us?"

The fish gave what looked like a nod, and one answered, "Yes."

His guess seemed to have been right on the mark - they were probably lake spirits, rather than demons. "Aren't you worried about what the Suijin will think? He won't be happy that you've helped us."

"That Suijin is a fake," the fish said.

"A fake..." Miroku repeated.

"So it is a demon," Sango mused. "I'd wondered about that."

"I don't think that's the case," he disagreed. "It's using a holy weapon. Demons can't touch such things without being purified."

"The impostor used to be just a spirit like us," one of the fish supplied.

"He served the real Suijin," the other added. "But he imprisoned the real Suijin in a stone and stole the holy weapon so he could take the Suijin's place."

Mournfully, the first fish continued, "And now that he has taken the holy weapon, he has the powers of a god and no one can oppose him."

"I see," Miroku said, thoughtfully. "Well, then we'll just have to rescue the true Suijin."

There was a rustling behind him; Inuyasha must have woken up. A moment later, a gruff interruption proved him correct. "That's stupid."

"Ah, so you're awake, finally," Miroku countered, as pleasantly as possible.

"You guys do whatever you want. I'm going back to the shrine."

"Rescuing the Suijin would be the wisest course of action at this point -"

"I'm rescuing Kagome first!" Inuyasha's indignant tone brooked no argument, and Miroku was wise enough to let him go. As the hanyou vanished into the fog, Miroku turned back to Sango and the fish spirits. Sango was staring into the fog where Inuyasha had disappeared; for a moment Miroku wondered whether she would choose to follow or stay.

Finally, she seemed to come to a decision, picking up her weapons and making sure everything was in place. "Let's go get the Suijin," she said.

"This way," the fish said. The humans followed into the water, Sango's cat companion riding on her shoulder, the short distance to the island where the Suijin was imprisoned. It was a small island like the first one they had taken refuge on, but it was rocky and rose up high out of the water.

"The Suijin is locked in a cave at the top of this island," the fish explained.

"We'll take care of it," Miroku promised, though he was not at all sure how easy the task would be. There could be a trap waiting for them, or guards, or...

As they scrambled up the hill, Sango said, "We should hurry, Houshi-sama. I'm worried about Kagome and the others..."

"They'll be fine," he assured her, though secretly he was glad that she seemed to be less angry with him now than she had been a few moments ago. Her temper made him nervous, especially when it was directed - with painful results - at him. "I'm sure Inuyasha is with them already."

Sango paused and frowned. "Is he really that strong?"

Miroku considered this for a moment. "Well, if you ignore a couple of personality flaws..."

The demon slayer did not respond, and they continued the last short distance to the top of the island. It was a rocky peak, with a sealing fuda pressed against a crack in the stone. That had to be the cave the fish spirits had spoken of. "This is it..." he murmured.

"Is someone out there?" He paused right as he was about to pull the fuda off, when a voice suddenly came from behind the seal. A _female_ voice. So the Suijin was...

"It sounds like a little girl," Sango commented.

"Then the Suijin is a goddess," Miroku agreed, wondering what this goddess might look like. He was not sure he had ever glimpsed such a divinity before, much less a female one. Perhaps she might be amenable to -

"Quick, pull the fuda off and let me out!" the voice continued, interrupting his wandering thoughts.

"Of course, right away!" he said, and ripped the paper off.

The island top burst open, showering them with rocks. But when the dust settled, a small cave appeared, and within it a tiny woman was visible.

"The true Suijin," he murmured, his tone duly reverent.

Sango was... less impressed. "She's... kind of small, isn't she?"

"It would seem so," he agreed.

"We must get back to the shrine as quickly as possible," the Suijin urged, ignoring the humans' conversation. "I must regain my halberd if we are to stop the impostor."

"Yes, of course," Miroku said, gently scooping the goddess up. They raced back down the hill as quickly as they could without stumbling.

Sango paused at the water's edge; Miroku almost bumped into her, but managed to avoid it at the last moment. "Let's fly," she said.

"What?"

"It'll be faster than swimming. Kirara, can you help us?"

The fire cat growled and transformed into her larger form, the one that could fly. Sango climbed onto Kirara's back as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Miroku only watched, feeling slightly horrified. He had ridden on Kirara once before, and was not sure it was an experience he wanted to repeat right now. Unfortunately, Sango was not in the mood to be patient.

"Are you coming?" she demanded.

Trying his best to quell his misgivings, he nodded and joined her on Kirara's back. _I guess she's forgiven me, at least a little..._

As they took off, which left him feeling slightly nervous, Sango turned back to him and added, "Just be careful. If you fall off, I'm not going to save you."

_Then again, maybe not._


	14. Into the Fray

Sango was feeling significantly less than pleased as Kirara took to the air. This situation was no good at all. She was sitting in her usual place, just behind the thick mane of fur along Kirara's shoulders, with Houshi-sama behind her. He had one arm around her waist to keep from falling - something she had reluctantly agreed to after his second near-fall - and kept the Suijin tucked safely against him with the other, lest she be swept away by the rushing air. Both of their weapons, which seemed suddenly to be ungainly and large, were pinned across her lap. If they were going to fly into battle again, she would have to find a better way to do it; this way, she was unable to strike quickly with her weapon, and there was the very real possibility that she might knock Houshi-sama off his place if she tried.

The last time she had flown with another person like this, it had been with Kohaku, before... when there had been less need for haste, or weaponry. Kohaku, her little brother, who had died because she had realized too late what was going on. Why was she thinking of Kohaku _now_? Because two other little boys could lose their lives if she screwed up, and because countless other children already had been killed by this creature.

Sango steeled her resolve, setting aside the painful memories so she could focus on the task at hand. There would be time for remembering, for mourning, later, but right now her friends were in danger and she could not take the chance that her hesitation might cost them their lives.

The monk leaned closer to her, asking, "Sango, is something the matter?"

She guided Kirara into a steep, banked dive, both because it shut him up and saved her having to answer the question and because she had seen something out of place near the Suijin's shrine. There was something large in the water, and it did not look friendly.

"Did you see that?" she asked, almost shouting to be heard over the wind.

"It's Inuyasha," Houshi-sama said. She saw suddenly that he was right. The hanyou was battling with a monster that looked like it had once been the impostor Suijin.

"Then we'll take the Suijin to Kagome," Sango decided aloud, shifting her knees to indicate to Kirara that they should change direction and approach from behind. If the creature decided to attack them right now, they were in no position to fight back, so it was best to avoid being seen. A quick look back told her that it had grabbed a hold of Inuyasha and dived beneath the lake, but there was no sense taking chances. They were almost to their destination anyway.

She had feared, in an offhanded, back-of-the-mind way, what their landing would bring. Necessity had dictated that she bring the monk with her this way, but he had already more than demonstrated that he did not always have his priorities straightened out. She was not looking forward to having to straighten them out for him again.

But when they landed on one of the mansion's porches, he did not do whatever lecherous thing it was she had been afraid he might; instead he withdrew discretely, obviously glad to be back on solid ground, even if it was leading them straight into battle.

"Here," she said, offering his shakujou. If they were going to have to fight, he would need it.

He took it with a nod of thanks, and they set off down the porch to where Kagome and two small boys were watching the battle.

"Kagome-chan!" Sango shouted when they were close enough.

Houshi-sama rushed ahead. "Are you okay?"

Sango saw immediately why he asked. Kagome was a mess. Her expression held a mixture of fear and horror; she was worried about Inuyasha. All that was visible of the battle was a swirling vortex and a stream of bubbles. If Inuyasha had been underwater all this time... no wonder Kagome was worried. He might be a half-demon, but he needed to breathe or he would die.

"Your friend is down there?" the Suijin asked. "Please put me down, Houshi."

Houshi-sama did as she asked, and she removed one of her sparkling pearl earrings, tossing it into the lake and ordering the waters to part. Sango felt a shiver go up her spine as the waters did as the Suijin ordered, parting to reveal the battle that had been going on below. The impostor Suijin had transformed into a creature that seemed more snake and less man, and was gripping Inuyasha tightly in its tail. But as the waters rolled back to reveal the fight, it craned its head upward, taking note of the interlopers.

"Get back," Sango urged, "It's seen us."

Kagome and the boys moved out of the way just in time. The impostor Suijin surged upward, its halberd at the ready. It struck the wooden platform they were standing on, right where Kagome had been kneeling a moment before, and the wood dissolved into bubbling foam.

"You!" the impostor said, its expression decidedly unpleasant, even for such an ugly creature. Sango scowled, and hauled Hiraikotsu into a defensive stance. "You lot have been interfering all night. It stops now!"

"Really, now?" Houshi-sama asked.

"We have the real Suijin-sama," Sango said, "who will -"

"Who's _asleep_!" Kagome supplied, her voice high-pitched and irate. She was right. The tiny woman was sound asleep in the palm of Kagome's hand, snoring quietly. "It looks like she used up all of her power," Kagome added, her tone much calmer.

"Already?" Sango sighed, wondering why they had gone to all the trouble of rescuing the real Suijin if she had so little power.

"That being the case, we'll just exterminate you instead," Houshi-sama said to the impostor, a little too pleasantly for Sango's taste. He charged forward, his staff ready to strike. Sango hoped that he actually had any spiritual power, or else this could quickly turn into a suicidal move, but she followed him anyway. What else could she do? She could not just stand by and let the impostor Suijin - whatever it was: demon, spirit, or god - kill all of these people.

The impostor grinned. "We'll see about that. As long as I have this halberd -" It cut off as it toppled backward, suddenly off balance.

"Hey, bastard!" Inuyasha shouted from below, where he had dug his claws into the impostor's scaly back, "Don't forget about me! I'm not done with you yet!" The impostor rose up again, slithering ever higher into the air, completely disregarding the hanyou and everyone else as it headed skyward.

Seizing her opportunity, Sango called for Kirara and leapt onto the cat's back as she transformed. They had long ago practiced this sort of maneuver until it was second nature for both of them. They needed to get up in the air - someone had to cut the thing's head off or the situation would quickly get out of hand. As they whipped past Inuyasha, she shouted a warning, "Draw back! I'll get him." Catching sight of the hanyou's glare from the corner of one eye, she felt compelled to add, "The only way to contain a demon like this is to cut off the head!"

Kirara snarled; Sango recognized the signal and turned her attention ahead. The impostor Suijin was not even paying attention to her - its gaze was focused up and ahead. It was giving her the perfect chance to strike, and she was not about to let that chance get away.

She gave a battle cry and hurled her weapon straight at it. Despite the stab of pain from her still-healing back, her aim was true. Unfortunately, the impostor was ready for the attack, and knocked her weapon aside with its halberd. Sango grimaced as she caught it, which was no easy task, considering it was now covered in bubbles. She was lucky it had not dissolved like the pier.

As if deciding she was no threat, the impostor Suijin turned its attention back to the sky. "I will show you the true power of the holy halberd!" it announced, raising the weapon toward the clouds. Thick storm clouds rolled in at its command, plunging the area into near total darkness. For a moment, it caught Sango off guard, and she felt fear pull at her heart. It was dangerous to fly in complete darkness like this. But... the impostor had turned its back to her again, and she could still make out its silhouette against the advancing clouds.

She threw her weapon again, this time without the battle cry, but the impostor Suijin blocked the attack again, and this time he seemed significantly less than pleased.

Lightning flashed.

"Futile," the impostor proclaimed. This time when he swung the halberd, great spouts of water appeared out of nowhere and rushed toward Sango. She barely had time to gasp in a last breath before she was hurled forcibly from Kirara's back and was tumbling through the air, with impostor Suijin charging straight for her, its halberd ready to strike.

This was not going according to plan. It would have been simple, if not for that halberd... She did not want to think about what would happen if the impostor used its power on a human.

And then Inuyasha was there, knocking the impostor off course, and trying to wrestle the halberd out of its grip. And Kirara was there, too, having recovered from the water spout attack. Sango managed to turn herself over in midair; Kirara was there to catch her, and not a moment too soon. They raced back upward and into the fray. Sango did not even mind that she had lost her Hiraikotsu somewhere - it was obvious that she could not land a blow with the weapon anyway.

"Inuyasha!" she shouted. "How did you get up here?"

"I climbed," he snarled, still trying to get the halberd away from the impostor Suijin, "while you were playing decoy."

"Decoy?!"

She did not have time to be angry because the next thing she knew, Inuyasha had ripped the halberd out of the creature's grip, and taken its arm with it. Her eyes went wide with surprise; she had not realized that Inuyasha was quite that strong.

"Damn you!" the impostor Suijin yelled, its voice shifting into a hiss as it transformed.

"Without the halberd, he's really just a snake..." Sango mused, half to herself and half to Kirara. She watched for a moment as Inuyasha and the snake plunged downward, and then snapped out of it. "Kirara, we need to find Hiraikotsu!" Inuyasha might have been able to rip the thing's arm off, but she sincerely doubted he would be able to remove the head from the body. Not while he was clinging to it like that, and trying to keep it from regaining the halberd. She would have to be the one to strike.

With rain pouring down by the bucketful and the waterspouts still swirling dangerously, finding her weapon was no easy task, much less recovering it. She counted herself lucky that Hiraikotsu was designed to float in water, rather than sink.

She had only just pulled it from the roiling water when the snake, mangled and bloody, burst writhing from the water. Inuyasha must still be fighting the thing... underwater again. Did that hanyou never learn? She hefted the Hiraikotsu over her shoulder and threw it again; with the snake distracted by Inuyasha's attacks, it was unable to dodge hers, and the Hiraikotsu cut the tail clean off.

Her weapon bobbed to the surface amidst deathly quiet. There was no sign of activity from beneath the water. What had happened? Had she aimed poorly and managed to strike Inuyasha as well? There was blood in the water, but she could not tell if it belonged only to the snake...

Suddenly the creature burst from the water again, head first this time. If it had looked beaten before, it certainly did now. Its lower jaw had been peeled back, leaking blood and gore even as it flew. Having failed to retrieve the halberd, it made no attempt to attack Sango, even though she was close to where it had emerged, moving right past almost as if it did not see her... or its focus was elsewhere. "It's... running away?"

An instant later, too late, she realized its intent. "It's heading toward the village!"

There was no sign of Inuyasha, but she could not risk taking the time to look for him while the snake attacked the village. "Come on, Kirara," she urged as they raced after the snake, "Inuyasha can take care of himself. We've got to take care of this."

She pulled Kirara up short when she caught sight of something ahead: Houshi-sama was waiting with two of the real Suijin's fish servants. He must have guessed that the snake would try something if he was unable to recover the halberd's power. Suddenly, she remembered a whispered warning Kagome had given her: _when Miroku uses the weapon in his hand, the _kazaana_, get out of the way_. She had only heard passing mention of this secret weapon of his, and had little idea of how it actually worked, but she had a feeling he was about to use it now.

And he did. He pulled away the beads that he normally kept wrapped around his right hand and arm, and opened what could only be described as a vortex... like a whirlpool in the air, sucking in everything that came close, including the entirety of the giant snake. Her heart pounding as the wind rushed around her, Sango was glad she'd remembered Kagome's warning and stayed out of the way. That would be a horrible way to die...

"Sango!" Houshi-sama's voice startled her.

"Ah, yes?"

"Any word of Inuyasha?"

She guided Kirara closer and lower so it would be easier to talk. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I lost sight of him a while ago... If I'd known you were going to catch the snake before it could get to the village, I'd have looked for him..."

"He's too stubborn to drown, anyway."

She smiled a little at that. "You're probably right." She hesitated a moment, awkwardly. "Uh... want a lift?"

He looked surprised; she was a little surprised, herself. She had not really meant to offer - she was still quite angry with him, after all - but it was growing light and, after a battle like that, she guessed he was as tired as she. It would be unkind of her to make him swim back to the Suijin's mansion when they could fly.

"Of course," he said, as if the question had not been awkward at all.

She slung Hiraikotsu across her back and offered him a hand even though Kirara had by now drifted low enough that it would have been easy to climb aboard unaided. Still... if she held his hand to help him up, she knew where that hand, at least, was. That way she could be a bit more certain that he was not going to take advantage of her kind gesture.

The clouds parted suddenly, bathing the lake in the warm golden light of dawn. Sango breathed a sigh of relief that turned into a yawn. Houshi-sama slumped against her, perhaps dozing off himself, his arms looped loosely around her waist - a position that was, in her mind, and in spite of the fact that her weapon was keeping them safely separated, entirely too intimate. She would definitely have to lay down some ground rules if they were going to fly together in the future. But that could wait until she'd had a chance to get into some warm, dry clothes.

And, she decided as another yawn crept over her, until she'd had a well-deserved nap.


	15. The Spoils

Miroku carefully slid the door open. Not far, barely the width of one finger, but just enough to create an opening he could peer through. He waited for a moment, half expecting a shout of outrage and for the door to be slammed all the way shut again, but no sound was forthcoming.

Cautiously, he pressed his face close to the door and looked through the hole he had made. The room's two occupants gave no sign of being aware of his presence. They were supposed to be changing into dry clothes after last night's battle with the impostor water god, but they were being woefully slow about it; Kagome was chattering excitedly, thrilled at the conclusion of the battle, while Sango merely forced a smile and nodded agreement.

And neither of them was taking her clothes off. Miroku sighed. Just his luck: a prime viewing opportunity, and no action.

But he was not about to give up yet, and a few minutes later his patience paid off. Kagome turned to dig a new set of her strange clothes out of her pack, and Sango began the - apparently laborious - process of stripping out of her armor. It seemed to Miroku that she had gotten into it a lot more quickly than she was getting out of it. Maybe it was his eagerness showing through, or perhaps she was just taking her time when she had the luxury of doing so.

She knelt to remove each of the various pads, guards, and braces that she wore on top of whatever that wonderfully tight black thing was, carefully folding up the ties and storing all the pieces in her travel bag, from which she had already removed her kosode, as she went. And then she was standing, her fingers working the hidden clasps at the neck that kept the black suit securely closed. She slipped one arm out, then the other, and eased the material down her torso and over her hips. The thick, damp fabric hit the floor with a soft squish; Miroku released the breath he had been unconsciously holding, and with it an appreciative murmur. "Ah, very nice..."

"Just what do you think you're doing, monk?"

Miroku glanced over for a second, grateful that Inuyasha at least had the decency to whisper. "The wound in Sango's back is healing nicely," he said, keeping his voice smooth and quiet.

"That better be all you're looking at." The hanyou was leaning against the wall nearby, his eyes closed, and yet Miroku got the distinct impression that Inuyasha would know if he did anything he was not supposed to. "Besides," Inuyasha went on, "the village head's waiting for you."

He was right, of course, but Miroku wasn't about to tell him that. They had plenty of time, considering they still had no leads on Naraku or any jewel shards, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to indulge himself a little once in a while... especially after the harrowing battle they had just been through. The village head could wait a few minutes.

He turned his gaze back through the slit in the door.

Sango had shifted a bit, blocking his view of Kagome, but he found he didn't mind. Kagome was already dressed anyway, and Sango had the sort of physique he had only seen in his dreams: luscious curves, with an ass so perfect he itched to squeeze it - and he was sorely tempted to indulge that desire even if it meant earning another slap to the face. Without her armor, she was soft and feminine, but when she moved he could see the steely muscle underneath.

Oh yes, he was more than glad she had joined the group, if only for the eye-candy and fuel for his fantasies she was sure to provide. The things that woman could probably do to a man, when properly persuaded...

"You know, I almost hope they catch you," Inuyasha said, louder this time. "It would serve you right to get your ass kicked."

"You could give it a try sometime, you know," he responded, delighting in the bright red hue that overtook Inuyasha's face at the mere suggestion of spying on Kagome. Getting a rise out of him was almost too easy. "It might be good for you."

"Just... go talk with the village head!" Inuyasha sputtered. "The sooner you take care of that, the sooner we can leave."

Miroku was grinning as headed into town. Between the wondrous view he had been treated to back at the inn and the promise of a sizable reward for their heroism, today was shaping up to be a pretty good day. There was a spring in his step and the chiming of the rings on his staff seemed especially cheerful as he looked for the spot where the village head had requested to meet with him.

It was not difficult to find. A large group of villagers, everyone who could put their work off for a few hours, had gathered there, milling about as they waited for word from their saviors. It sounded funny when he thought about it that way, but in defeating the fake water god they really had done something good for this village. He did not even mind being elected as the group's official mediator.

As he slipped into the crowd, the headman noticed him right away. He waded into the crowd himself, and led Miroku to the front, where an open space had been cleared for the presentation of the reward. Miroku thought it was a lot of fuss for something that ought to have been handled privately; then again, the headman was probably making a big show of being generous in front of his people... even though by now they all probably knew just how selfish and cowardly the man really was.

"We owe you a great debt for saving my son - and our village - from the fake Suijin," the headman said grandly, pressing a pouch filled with coins into Miroku's palm. "Please accept this as a token of our gratitude."

Miroku kept his expression carefully neutral, but on the inside he was frowning. If this was all the coin they could spare, they would have been better off giving rice or other supplies. This amount would fetch a night at an inn, maybe two, and a couple of meals, but no more. They would not get far on this. And, more importantly, the group's combined skills were worth far more than this paltry sum. A Taijiya alone would fetch more for her services.

And a man wealthy enough to not only employ servants, but attempt to sacrifice their children, could surely spare more than this.

He accepted the reward with as much grace as possible, but his mind was already racing, seeking a way to turn this to his advantage - and found it in a passel of curious villagers that lingered nearby, eager to hear the story of the fake Suijin's undoing. Miroku smirked. The village head had wandered off a short distance, but he was keeping a keen eye on the visitor, watchful lest his secret be revealed; perhaps his tune would change if Miroku gave a little shove.

One of the villagers in the group was a likely looking young woman, who was quite comely and seemingly unattached. Miroku inched toward the group as if it were the most natural thing in the world, angling for the young woman.

"Excuse me, my lady," he said when he was close enough.

She turned, a slightly confused expression on her face, and he caught her hand in both of his, his grip at once firm and gentle. "Would you do me the honor of bearing my child?" he asked.

It took her a moment to process the question. When she realized what he had requested of her, her face flushed a pretty shade of pink and she stammered, "What? Isn't that a little forward, Houshi-sama?"

Forward... perhaps. But it had certainly got their attention. The other villagers suddenly pressed closer around him, their expressions curious, some of them even being so bold as to openly ask for the tale of last night's battle.

Miroku smiled and let the young woman pull away from him, though he rather wished she had given him a proper answer to his question, turning to the other villagers instead. "Ah, you see," he said, "my friends and I were traveling this way on our own quest, when we came across the sacrificial procession..."

He got no further than that before the village head insinuated himself directly beside him, whispering, "Stop talking, monk."

Miroku gave him a pointedly innocent look.

"Perhaps a more... sufficient reward can be arranged," the headman continued, flustered but keeping his voice hushed. "Come with me, please..."

To the villagers, Miroku quickly summed up the battle: "We couldn't just allow a monster to keep devouring innocent children, so we put a stop to it."

If any of the villagers were suspicious about the sudden tension in the air as the headman led Miroku into his house, they were wise enough not to mention it.

-x-

A while later, Miroku found himself waiting for his companions outside the inn, with a horse, a cart, and assorted household goods - the only things the headman, stingy bastard, would part with - in tow. Truthfully, he was most grateful for the horse. The others had taken the opportunity to rest a bit while he was haggling for their reward; at least this way he would not have to walk.

He planned to sell the rest of the supplies the first chance he got. Having such supplies would be useful, but they needed to travel quickly and lightly; a cart would only slow them down and get in the way. The horse might be a problem, too, but he would be sad to see it go. He rather liked the idea of riding, rather than walking, for a change.

It wasn't long before Inuyasha emerged from the inn, with Shippou hitching a ride on his shoulder. The young fox demon quickly clambered up on top of the cart, enjoying the novelty of riding on a vehicle instead of being carried by one of his companions. The girls followed a few moments later, though both were, rather disappointingly, fully clothed.

As they set off, all of them seemed to be reluctant to mention the massive pile of loot Miroku had secured as their reward. They even made it quite some distance down the road before Inuyasha started grumbling.

"What a nasty side-trip."

"It's not so bad," Miroku countered. "After all, we did save many lives."

The hanyou stopped walking and glowered up at him. "So what's with all the junk, then?"

"Oh, that."

The girls, who who had been walking in front of them thus far, stopped to listen, too.

"As you know, since we did such great work for the village head on behalf of his son," he told them, "he thought we deserved a reward for our efforts."

Inuyasha's look turned skeptical.

"I was just about to tell the villagers about what happened, when suddenly the headman decided we might be better off with a bigger reward," Miroku went on. "He didn't seem to want them to know about how he switched the children for the sacrifice..."

"Hey, wait a minute, that's blackmail, isn't it?" Inuyasha said, scowling. Miroku only shrugged in response. Up ahead, Sango whispered something to Kagome, an angry look on her face. Kagome only muttered something under her breath in response, her posture radiating disapproval.

Miroku gave an exaggerated sigh. Somehow, he knew the girls were talking about him, a suspicion that was confirmed when they both turned back to glare at him for several long seconds. "What's with them? It's like they don't appreciate anything I do!" he moaned, hoping to find a halfway sympathetic ear in his hanyou companion.

"Can't imagine why," Inuyasha sneered.

"You're right," Miroku mused. "These rewards aren't very exciting. But just think of the fun we could have if we sold all this stuff..."

Resigned now to his inability to put a stop to the monk's more questionable behavior, Inuyasha shook his head. "It's like you get worse every time you open your mouth."


	16. Wandering

There was only one road out of town. Sango was glad of that; it made life much easier. With only the one road, ramrod straight, heading off into the distance, she could just keep putting one foot in front of the other and avoid focusing too much on where she was going. She maintained at least a superficial awareness of her surroundings, as she had been trained to do since childhood, but felt reasonably safe in letting her mind wander a bit.

They had been given the chance to rest a bit earlier, having spent much of the night engaged in battle with the false water god, but she had been unable to quiet her mind enough to sleep. Their departure had seemed to come far too quickly, but she made no protest as they headed out of town. Houshi-sama had secured an exorbitant reward for their efforts, and so he brought up the rear with the horse and cart that were necessary to even move the piles of household implements and rolls of fine fabric they had acquired. She and Kagome traveled at the front of the group, while Inuyasha walked in the middle.

And so now she merely trudged along, nodding occasionally to whatever Kagome said to her, and trying to sort through the conflicting thoughts that swarmed in her head.

She had already managed to work out that she would trust Inuyasha. He was clearly more than a little brutish, but his instincts tended to be spot on, he had more powerful senses than she did and therefore a better perception of their surroundings, and she was by now pretty certain that under all that bluster beat a good heart. He had the potential to be a good team mate, just like Kirara. All he was lacking was foresight... and, she had to admit, good manners and some stern training.

She almost giggled at the idea of attempting to train Inuyasha like a dog. Kagome gave her a curious, sidelong glance; Sango quickly sobered, as she did not particularly relish the idea of explaining to Kagome and the others just what was amusing her so much. Kagome and Shippou would see the humor in the idea, she was sure, but Inuyasha would not take it well.

And then there was the monk. Would he be amused, too, or would he take the hanyou's side? She had a feeling he would be more amused than offended.

But she had been wrong about him before.

She had been trying not to think about him, because it brought to mind how easily he had slipped past her defenses. She had thought, in spite of her other companions' warnings, that he was truly a good man. But she could not deny the facts of it now. She had been weak, and he had taken advantage. Or tried to.

It hurt, to think that the man who had tended her wounds so carefully and had seen to her care was at heart a womanizer and a con man. It hurt more that she had given her trust so easily, had chosen to ignore the warnings, and had been burned for playing thus with fire.

And yet... he had pulled her from the water and saved her from drowning. He had fought beside her and ensured that the false water god did not escape to attack the village again. These were good, even noble things that he had done. And in return she had been kind even though her heart seethed with uncertainty and wounded pride.

She knew that she could not afford to trust him again.

The worst part was that she _wanted _to trust him again.

This realization so unsettled her that she immediately tripped over some unseen bump in the road, dropped Kirara, and staggered hard into Kagome, who nearly toppled under the sudden burden.

"Hey, Sango, watch where you step!" Inuyasha said. His voice was gruff and loud, and Sango could picture the angry scowl on his face perfectly, even without turning to look.

"Then maybe you should walk in front," she retorted, righting herself. She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth, but she was tired enough that she no longer felt like hiding her opinion that if he was going to appoint himself leader, he ought to act like it all of the time, instead of being petulant when his companions failed or erred in some small way.

A few long strides saw the hanyou move to the front of the group, glowering over his shoulder at Sango as he went. She thought she heard him mutter something about being the only one that knew where they were going anyway, and sighed.

"Are you okay?" Kagome was watching her, wide-eyed and concerned, but it was the monk that had spoken. She had thought, riding behind them as he was, that he would not be paying much attention to the bickering of his companions. Apparently he was more observant than she gave him credit for.

"I'm just a little tired, I guess," she murmured by way of explanation. Her flash of temper was already cooling into a melancholy quiet. She honestly had not expected her sleeplessness to affect her so much, but her body was still healing from the wounds Naraku had inflicted so many days ago, and this battle had taken a greater toll on her than she had guessed. "I didn't rest well back at the inn."

"You could always ride up here with me," the monk offered pleasantly.

Sango felt her face heat - though she could not be certain if it stemmed from anger, or something else - at the suggestion that she should sit so close to him, rather than make use of the cart. "Uhm... no thank you, Houshi-sama. I'm fine."

"Suit yourself." He let the matter drop, and she resolved to keep her face turned firmly forward until they stopped for the night. Unfortunately, Kagome had not only noticed Houshi-sama's offer, but also the way it discomfited Sango. And Kagome was not so content to let things go. Worse, she knew just how to attack, waiting to pounce until her intended target - Sango - had let her guard down.

"Hey, Sango, did something happen between you and Miroku back there?" she asked, just as soon as Sango had decided she was safe from further questioning. She should have known better.

For a fleeting instant, she wanted to respond honestly. But she felt the damn monk's eyes on her back - and knew he was listening - and could not admit her moment of vulnerability, even to Kagome. "No," she said, scowling slightly. "Nothing happened. Why do you ask?"

Wisely, Kagome did not push her luck, and from there they traveled in silence.


	17. Making Amends

Miroku had guessed that Sango's anger was a dangerous thing; what he hadn't counted on was her remarkable ability to hold a grudge. She still resented his attempt to breathe life back into her when she'd nearly drowned, having mistaken the gesture for something a great deal less wholesome, and did not seem inclined to forgive. He maintained hope that eventually her temper would cool and they could go back to being, if not friends, then at least companions.

Unfortunately, she had a knack for lulling him into a false sense of security, only to hit him with a stony coldness when he least expected it. He understood, a bit, that she was trying to work through some inner conflict that had arisen because of his actions; her natural inclination was to be kind to him, but she no longer felt safe trusting him.

He supposed he could deal with that, if he had to. After all, there were plenty of times when Inuyasha and Kagome barely tolerated his presence. He was accustomed to it by now.

He had earned a couple of surprised looks from the girls when he sold the spoils of their last victory, including the horse and cart. It hadn't changed their opinion of him much, but it had made their journey somewhat quicker and ensured that they would have food and shelter for some time to come. Inuyasha, of course, appreciated none of this, and if the girls did, they tried not to let it show. Miroku got the - rather sullen - impression that Sango was slowly but surely turning even Kagome against him.

Whatever she had told them about what had happened between them during the fight with the false water god, he was certain it was greatly exaggerated and that his intentions had been grossly misrepresented. But he knew better than to think that protesting that would get him anywhere. He would be better served by finding a way to redeem himself in their eyes.

That was what he had spent the last few days doing, to little effect. It seemed that every village they journeyed through, no matter how great or small, had some sort of demon problem. There had been a surge, so to speak, in the demon population since Naraku's resurgence and the shattering of the Shikon no Tama, which meant that Taijiya like Sango and Buddhist monks like himself were in high demand.

Most of the buildings that were supposedly haunted by demons and angry spirits were not. Miroku took care of those himself, putting on a show for the villagers and earning them room and board in the bargain. Each of these earned him a sour look from Sango, who saw through his ruses and quick talking, and disapproved. She didn't realize that he was weeding out the false problems, sowing hope in their stead, and trying to find a real demon for her to take care of.

Exorcisms and exterminations... They could have been a very dangerous team, even against a demon like Naraku.

Too bad wounded pride and this silly grudge were getting in the way.

He wondered, watching her now, if it would have helped to explain that he had only been trying to save her life; she would only see some dark and selfish ulterior motive in it, he thought. Sango was quick to jump to conclusions.

But she was still handy in battle. And for petty, annoying exorcisms that he did not want to bother with. Which was why he had spent the afternoon touting her skills to the owner of house, which proved to actually have an inhuman resident, and secured her a job taking care of the problem. Such tasks appealed to her desire to help others, and she even preened a little under his praise and pretended he wasn't asking for an insane reward for her efforts.

To be honest, he had been curious, too. He wanted to see how a Taijiya worked.

Sango carried with her a great many mysterious things, pellets and poisons and vials of nameless powders and salves, and all of them served a different purpose in the slaying of demons. It was an impressive array of knowledge, and he watched, captivated, as she listened to the homeowner's story and selected the proper supplies for the extermination. She seemed to have some idea of what she would be up against.

Her expression was grave when she turned to Inuyasha and gave him a stern warning: "This stuff stinks. You'd best stay out of the way."

The hanyou didn't like that one bit, and stubbornly refused to budge, in spite of Kagome's best efforts to convince him. For better or worse, he would stick with the group. When everyone's role had been decided - Kagome would mind the stink pellets and use a fan to blow their smoke into the space beneath the house, while Sango would wait on the other side with her weapons at the ready; Miroku and Inuyasha were instructed merely to stay out of the way - they all went outside to begin the extermination.

Word spread quickly in a small village. Already a sizable crowd had gathered nearby to watch the proceedings.

If it surprised Sango, she did not let it show. But for an instant, her eyes met his and held his gaze. She knew he had orchestrated the extermination for her benefit, rather than simply performing an exorcism himself, but what he did not know was what she would do next. He'd made the peace offering. Now it was up to her to accept it, or only grow more angry with him.

No sense worrying about it. She would do what she wanted.

So instead of watching the proceedings, he looked out over the crowd, surveying the village out of habit more than anything else. He always looked for targets, both for potential sources of money and for likely women. It was the latter he saw in the crowd: a young woman of surpassing beauty and dressed in unusually fine clothing. And she was staring straight at him; when she realized she had been caught, her expression shifted from sly to coy.

That was intriguing.

She curled a finger back toward herself, beckoning. His breath caught in his throat for a moment. There was no mistaking the intent behind that gesture.

Miroku cast a furtive glance back at his companions to make sure that they were all duly occupied and that they had the demon under control; they did. Rather, the girls did, but that was close enough. The smoke that Sango was using to drive the demons out had a rather potent effect on Inuyasha, just as she had warned it would. Miroku did not think his absence would be noted for a while yet.

He had done his part in setting this stupid grudge aside. The rest would be up to Sango. For now, he had far easier - and far more intriguing - prey to pursue.


	18. Unasked Questions

"Keep driving it this way!" Sango shouted. Smoke poured from the crawlspace beneath the building, pungent and overwhelming. If not for the gas mask she wore, she might have been in serious trouble herself. But thanks to her Taijiya gear, she could safely stand even in the midst of the billowing column of smoke, lying in wait for the demon it would expel from the inn.

Behind her, she heard Houshi-sama answering a few questions from the crowd concerning her skill and Inuyasha's reaction to the smoke; he was trying to talk up her skills, probably recognizing them for the steady source of income they were. That or being lazy, she thought darkly. But she did not have much time to worry about him. At least he was staying out of her way.

Something moved in the darkness beneath the building. Something big.

"It's coming!" she announced, for all that Inuyasha cared. He was still lying senseless on the ground, both hands clapped over his mouth and nose against the smoke.

The demon - a mouse of great size, with sharp teeth bared - leapt out from the crawl space. Sango was ready for it, and crushed its skull with her Hiraikotsu before it could do any damage. She waited for a long time after that, but no other demons were forthcoming; the owner of this building had been lucky, there had only been one. But where mice were concerned, and demon mice were no exception, one typically turned quickly into many.

"Okay, Kagome, put out the fire!" she called. Eventually the column of smoke dwindled and faded completely, though its stench would remain for some time. Sango hated the thought of being covered in it, but her business here was not done yet.

Now that she knew the origin of the demon, and its type, she had some advice to give the building's owner, and some pellets that would help stave off future infestations. This she did as swiftly as possible, leaving Kagome and Shippou to tend to Inuyasha, who was still visibly suffering the effects of the smoke. She almost felt bad for him at this point, though if he had just listened to her instead of being a stubborn idiot, he wouldn't be suffering.

In return for her services, they were given access to the baths and a room in which to spend the night, with the promise of food for dinner as well. After spending so much time on the road, it seemed a bounty. It was not until the innkeeper had wandered off on his own business, and Sango was thinking longingly of a hot bath, that something odd about the exchange seemed to jump out.

"A room for three, plus the small ones," the man had said. Three?

"Hey, where's Miroku?" Kagome asked suddenly.

"He went off with some girl," Shippou supplied. Indeed, the monk seemed to have slipped off while Sango was performing the extermination, and with Kagome busy helping and Inuyasha incapacitated by the smoke, no one had noticed.

"Hmph!" Kagome muttered, scowling.

"It figures, he makes someone else do the work so he can run off and pick up girls..."

"She was really pretty. They probably went off to fulfill his request to bear his child," Shippou added, not exactly helpfully.

"Huh?" Sango managed, feeling a little lost. She watched as Kagome's expression grew darker.

"It's something he asks every woman he meets," the other girl said finally. Sango knew better than to press her about it, and turned her mind backward with a strange sense of... something that was almost disappointment. _He never asked me._


	19. The Monk's Misadventure

With nearly all its inhabitants eagerly observing what they could of the ongoing demon extermination, the village was a quiet and tranquil place. Meandering down its main street with an exceedingly lovely woman beside him, Miroku felt almost at peace. There was, of course, the customary niggling voice of doubt in the back of his mind, but for the moment he was content to ignore it and simply enjoy the day.

He and his companion walked in silence. She was beautiful indeed, surpassingly so. And enigmatic, too.

She had been unwilling to give her name or any other information until they were assured of privacy, and this was what they were seeking now. She had not even given him a chance to ask her if she might be interested in bearing his child; now it hardly seemed important. There was clearly a matter of great importance afoot.

And while her behavior might, perhaps, have otherwise set off warning bells in his head – particularly if, say, _she_ had been a _he_ – he had never been able to resist a damsel in distress. So he went with her willingly, trusting his companions to take care of the village's demons. He fully intended to find out what this woman's story was, and if there was any way he could help her. And if there was any way he would be likely to end up in her bed tonight.

They walked for a while longer, until they had passed the last buildings of the village and were walking across open countryside. Long grass billowed in the wind, whipping around them on either side. If she was looking for privacy, this would more than suffice.

"What is it you wished to discuss with me?" he asked pleasantly, when the village had faded into the distance.

The woman gave a shudder that was visible even through the many layers of clothing she wore, and the voluminous robe she kept draped over her head. She kept walking and did not look back. Miroku had just decided that she did not wish to tell him, after all, when she paused and said, "I am a lady from what was once a prestigious house. But it was destroyed in battle and I... I am the only one left."

It was a terribly tragic fate, and Miroku told her as much.

She nodded, coming gradually to a stop and letting him catch up to her. She let him draw close, so close that he was almost holding her. Her story was moving, there was no doubt about it.

"Because I am the last one left alive," she went on, her voice tremulous and near to tears, "It is my duty to revive my house, by giving birth to a strong son, who will grow into a strong lord..."

"And for that," Miroku guessed, "you cast your gaze upon me."

She did not contradict his assessment, but pressed herself hard against him. Clinging almost desperately, she whispered, "Would you like to make my wish come true?"

And, unfortunately, Miroku could no longer deny that something was not right with the situation. A noble lady would not have led him out into an open field in search of privacy, much less a place to make love. A noble lady would not have been able to escape slaughter without help, but she had made no mention of being abandoned by her assistants.

Perhaps her story was meant only to elicit sympathy, to aid her in convincing him (never mind that she was attractive enough that he'd have come with her anyway). Perhaps she was deluded and really believed what she had said. Perhaps it was even true, and she was merely desperate enough for this.

But all of those things were moot points, because a pair of enormous mantis arms was rising from her back, preparing to strike. Miroku caught sight of them out of the corner of one eye a moment before it would have been too late. The jointed arms drew back...

"I knew it sounded too good to be true," he commented dryly, and struck the woman across the face with his shakujou.

The holy staff made a sizzling sound as it contacted her face; she vibrated, wavering for a moment before the false skin was shed completely. Miroku leaped backward, but did not manage to make it out of striking range before the demon revealed itself.

The skin of a young woman crumpled to the earth at its feet.

"So you were just wearing the girl's skin," he mused. "Did you kill her?"

"I ate her insides," the demon rumbled.

Miroku scowled. The girl had been young and beautiful, her life cruelly snuffed out before its time by a hungry monster. If he could not share at least a moment of time with her, if he could never even learn her name or the truth of her story, then the least he could do was avenge her death. And, hopefully, allow her soul to rest in peace.

"I'm going to eat you, too, monk," the demon went on.

"Then you'll regret your choice of victim," Miroku replied calmly, reaching for the beads that kept the kazaana bound.

"I'll eat you!" the demon mantis cried, leaping toward him.

Miroku took a step backward and opened the kazaana. "You're the one that will be eaten, demon," he said.

The inexorable winds of the kazaana drew the demon forward, pulling it inside no matter how hard it tried to escape. Miroku's eagerness to avenge the demon's young victim had made him careless. He had forgotten that the mantis possessed sharp blades on its forelimbs... and as it was devoured, these blades cut into the edges of the kazaana.

Miroku grimaced as pain shot up his arm. _Damn it, it's been torn open wider_, he thought, wrapping the beads back around his arm. Even that did little to help; the wound still throbbed painfully.

His thoughts took a dark turn as he made his way back to the village. Had he just shortened his already limited lifespan by making such a careless mistake? As if to taunt him, the wound in his palm throbbed more hotly with every step. If it did not calm down soon, there would be nothing to do about it but go see Mushin. The old monk would know what to do. He hoped.


	20. Up to No Good

It was dinner-time before the monk returned from wherever he had spent the day, slinking into the room as if he'd been there all along. The act, as well-performed as any he had attempted before, failed to impress.

"He's been up to no good," Kagome whispered.

"There's no other reason he'd have snuck off like that instead of staying to help with the demon extermination," Sango agreed, keeping her voice low so he would not hear or take offense. She was not as certain of the monk's guilt as Kagome was, but she had learned her lesson about not trusting the strange girl. If nothing else, Kagome had proved to be an excellent judge of character.

Failing to heed Kagome's warnings about Miroku's proclivities had earned Sango nothing but trouble thus far.

She remembered waking up after nearly drowning to find the monk on top of her, ready and willing to take advantage of her even in the middle of a dangerous battle... and nearly twitched. It was enough to make her lose her appetite; she kept eating only because it meant she did not have to say anything to him. This way, she could simply glower at him over her bowl and remain silent.

She had underestimated him before. She would not make that mistake again.

Not even when he was looking piteously innocent and confused, acting as if he knew nothing of what they were talking about. Unwilling to feel sorry for Miroku, she clamped down on her sympathy and turned it into skepticism. Even Inuyasha knew what the monk had been up to, and he wasn't afraid to say something about it.

"You were out picking up girls, weren't you?" the hanyou asked dryly.

"It's not what you think," Miroku protested, his voice calm.

Not a one of his companions believed him.


	21. Deceiver

Miroku was an accomplished deceiver; it was a gift he normally prided himself on. He could swindle even the stingiest lord out of the better part of his fortune - or talk his way into the bed of even the shyest of virgins - without breaking a sweat. He was putting that skill to the test tonight, although none of his usual motivations were to blame.

Tonight he was hiding something altogether unpleasant from his so-called friends. The same 'friends', he thought a little ruefully, that were so quick to assume he had been out picking up girls while they worked hard at demon-slaying. In fact, he had been doing much the same thing as they had: he had slain a praying mantis demon that had disguised itself as a beautiful maiden. He might have won the battle, but the damned mantis was having the last laugh.

The torn kazaana in his palm pulsed and burned.

This wasn't something he was going to be able to hide. It would be foolish even to try.

The only person that could help him now was Mushin, but seeking Mushin's aid meant he would have to abandon his companions, if only temporarily. And yet in spite of his ire, a small part of him was reluctant to do so. A much bigger part of him worried that this might signal the beginning of his end, that with this small injury the kazaana would grow inexorably wider until in only a matter of hours or days it became large enough to swallow him.

So he looked them over as they prepared to bed down for the night - kind Kagome, faithful Shippo, gruff Inuyasha, compelling Sango - and he knew his path was set. He could not stay with them. He must go, tonight, lest his doom become theirs.


	22. Wakeful Night

Sango slept restlessly, plagued by bad dreams. But then again, she could not remember the last time she had slept through the night without waking in breathless fear at least once. The memories were simply too painful. Too fresh and raw.

If she managed to keep those specters at bay during the day, in the dark of night they invariably came creeping right back in, filling her up inside until she was ready to burst. And in the darkened room of an inn or the quiet of a campsite after her companions were asleep, there was very little to distract her.

In a way, the day's demon extermination had helped... but with the victory had come regret. Today's hunt had been a success. If only that final hunt with Father and the others could have ended the same way, and had not turned out to be a snare laid by Naraku. Then perhaps Father and Kohaku and... and...

There were far too many ands, too many names. Too many regrets. And far too little progress in her quest for vengeance.

Fending off pointless tears, Sango could feign sleep no longer. She opened her eyes.

Incongruously, the first person those eyes sought was the monk. The room was quiet and still; she had heard nothing all night, save for the quiet breathing of her sleeping friends. And yet Miroku's place was empty.

Some small part of her was strangely hurt by his absence.

She narrowed her eyes and waited a few moments, thinking that perhaps he had merely gone in search of the latrine, but there was still no sign of the missing monk. Finally she loosed a frustrated sigh and gave up. _He probably snuck off to meet up with some girl from the village._

She rolled over and clutched the blanket closer around her and determinedly squeezed her eyes shut. _Well, I don't need him anyway._

If only that helped.


	23. Dark Thoughts

Miroku's thoughts were as dark as the night he trudged through. The wounded kazaana in his palm throbbed a constant reminder of all he stood to lose.

His steps remained measured, as they always did when he was traveling, but he fought the urge to run. He knew running would be pointless. He vividly remembered a time when he had run faster than ever before, and had still been too late. It did not matter how fast he was; his father had died anyway, consumed by the same curse that threatened Miroku now.

He wondered if he would be too late this time, too. If he would always be too late.

It was a long way yet to Mushin's temple.

He decided that walking a bit faster couldn't hurt.

A while later, he caught sight of movement in the long grass up ahead. For a moment he wondered if it was some sort of animal, but almost immediately he realized that it was a youkai. A very familiar youkai, at that.

"Hachi!" he called out.

The tanuki emerged from the grass in front of him, looking alarmed. "Master Miroku," Hachi stuttered. "I did not expect to see you here."

Miroku suspected that Hachi was also surprised to see him alone. He had sensed the tanuki's presence a time or two since he had teamed up with Inuyasha and Kagome, so he had a feeling Hachi probably knew how long he'd been traveling with a group. Still, meeting up with him was a stroke of luck that Miroku was not about to pass up.

"I need a favor," he said.

"A favor? From me? What are you planning, Master?" Hachi asked, his tone implying that if it involved trickery - and little danger - he wanted the details of any plot Miroku might be hatching.

"There's a temple I need to get to," Miroku explained. "Time is of the essence: it's a matter of life and death. Will you take me?"

One of the best things about Hachi was that he knew when not to ask questions. "I will take you."

In a matter of moments, the tanuki had changed his shape, allowed Miroku to climb onto his back, and taken to the sky. Traveling by air was much faster than walking, though it did not make Miroku feel any better. The torn kazaana in his palm ached and burned as much as ever, and now he had nothing to do but sit and think.

He had expected to feel regret. He had not expected to regret the loss of his companions. They seldom trusted him and often misinterpreted his intent, but he had come to like them. Even Inuyasha and Sango, in spite of everything. Somehow, it especially rankled that he had not been able to make amends with Sango after the incident with the false water god. For a while, he was content to think about that rather than the other painful memories that seemed so desperate to intrude upon his mind, but as night lightened into dawn and they drew closer to Mushin's temple, Miroku's thoughts returned to that fateful day so many years ago.

He'd run so fast, been so desperate... and it had done him no good at all. A violent rushing of wind, and then his father was gone.

The sky grew pinker and pinker as the sun rose, and Miroku found himself watching the landscape below with a feeling that might almost have been anticipation. It was not long after that that he saw the first clear landmark, and called for Hachi to take them down.

They came to rest at the foot of the hill and began to climb the stone stairs leading up to the temple.

"Is this the temple where you grew up, Master Miroku?" Hachi asked.

"Yes."

It was indeed this temple where Miroku had spent his childhood. And it was not far from here that Miroku's father had been sucked into the kazaana in his hand until nothing remained of him. Mushin had assured him that his grandfather had died in the same way. The kazaana in Miroku's palm pulsed strongly, as if reacting to the memory. He had to wonder if he would be the curse's next victim.

As they reached the top of the hill, they walked past an enormous, perfectly round hole in the ground. Oblivious to Miroku's determined attempts not to look at it, Hachi commented, "What's this big hole?"

"Oh that," Miroku said, still refusing to look, "it's my father's grave."


	24. Gone Missing

"Miroku-sama's gone?"

Kagome's question jolted Sango out of a light doze. It was light in their small room now; she had not worried too much when she woke in the night to find the monk gone, but for him to still be missing in the morning...

While Kagome shot out of bed, Sango sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and looked for herself. Indeed, Miroku was nowhere in evidence. Before Sango could think to stop her, Kagome had left their room, still dressed in her night-clothes, to go see what the villagers knew.

_He's probably with his woman from yesterday, _Sango thought sourly. It was possible that Miroku really was in some kind of trouble, but she suspected that even if he was in trouble, it was of his own making. Perhaps having to deal with the consequences of his behavior would teach him a lesson.

Content to let Kagome do the panicking for the moment, Sango took her time getting dressed and ready for the day. She half expected Inuyasha to follow Kagome, but the hanyou remained stubbornly where he was, sitting on the other side of the screen that divided the room and grumbling quietly to himself or to Shippou, she was not quite sure. She had finished dressing and had just begun to inspect her weapons for wear and damage when Kagome returned.

"He's gone!" she burst out. "He left the village entirely!"

Now _that _came as a surprise.

Sango finished tending to her weapons while Kagome hurried to change into her day-clothes. As soon as she was ready, they took to the road, following the directions the villagers had given Kagome.

Kagome rode on her bicycle; Kirara rode happily in the bike's basket and Shippou perched atop Kagome's backpack where it was strapped to the back of the contraption. Sango walked alongside, letting Inuyasha lead the way. With his keen sense of smell, he might have a chance at picking up Miroku's trail when the rest of them would simply be searching blindly.

"The men in the village said he looked angry when he left this morning," Kagome sighed after they had been walking, or in her case riding, for a while. "And that he told them he had to go on a little journey of his own, but..."

"Are you sure it's not because you two were mean to him yesterday?" Shippou asked.

Kagome gasped in outrage at the very idea, but Sango felt an unexpected pang of guilt. She did not trust Miroku, did not even particularly like him, but the thought of being responsible for his departure weighed heavily on her. He had been a part of the group before she joined. She might not trust him very much, but it had not been her intention to force him away from his companions by being cruel and cold to him.

"He's not that sensitive," Inuyasha said, his tone clipped and impatient. "And besides, something's fishy here. Someone's been following us all day."

Sango barely had time to wonder how he had noticed such a thing, and she had not, before Inuyasha was moving. He leaped into the trees beside the road so quickly that his companions could only watch as he drew his sword and sliced vegetation away to reveal the spy: a human-like shape covered by the pelt of a baboon. Sango's heart stopped at the sight even as the figure slipped back among the trees. She knew that figure only too well: it was Naraku, the monster responsible for the deaths of her family and the destruction of her village.

If Naraku was involved, then Kagome had been right to worry, and Sango had been foolish not to. She hurried after Inuyasha, racing after the retreating form of the man in the baboon mask. She had a hard time matching Inuyasha's pace, but Kirara knew she would need help and was there to provide it. It only took an instant for Kirara to change forms and for Sango to leap onto her back, and then it was not long before they were gaining ground, rather than being left behind.

"Naraku!" Inuyasha shouted. Sango cursed under her breath when the man did not so much as look back. Gripping Kirara with only her legs, she steadied herself enough to take aim and threw her Hiraikotsu. Even with the thick trees all around them and the moving target, her aim was true; Naraku stumbled as the massive boomerang struck him, and that was enough. Inuyasha was on him before he could recover.

As the hanyou attacked, Sango's heart raced. She suddenly found that she couldn't breathe. She was so close to her goal... but where Inuyasha had slashed him open, Naraku did not bleed. Instead, all that came forth from the gash was soil. Soil, and another one of Naraku's damned puppets.

Sango stared down at the remains, bracing herself as a wave of crushing disappointment washed over her. Of course it could not have been so easy...

While she and Inuyasha silently observed their handiwork, Kagome came running up behind them with Shippou in tow. "It was just another puppet?" Kagome asked.

Sango could not seem to make her voice work, and Inuyasha did not bother to reply, since the answer was obvious.

"So he just wanted to distract us," Kagome murmured, at the same time as the thought was occurring to Sango. She had to agree with Kagome's assessment. Naraku had obviously wanted to lead them on a chase, and he had succeeded... but why?

"I wonder what the real reason was... why Miroku felt he had to leave," Kagome went on, inadvertently echoing Sango's thoughts.

"Why?" Inuyasha asked, as if he hadn't thought about it.

Sango had not thought much about it either. She had simply assumed he was off with that woman Shippou said he'd been friendly with back at the village. But now she had more questions than she knew what to do with, and no answers at all. Had the monk encountered some sign of Naraku's presence yesterday? It was possible. But if he had found such a sign, he would have told the rest of them, right?

A tiny voice piped up, "Um, Inuyasha..."

Sango nearly did a double-take before remembering the flea demon that was Inuyasha's sometimes-companion. He spent so much of his time hiding, or off on other errands, that it was easy to forget he was with them at all.

"Myouga?" the hanyou asked.

"If you are wondering why the monk departed so suddenly, I may have some insight to share," the flea went on. Sango listened carefully as he explained, "During the night, while the rest of you were sleeping, Miroku stayed awake. He was sitting in the dark and brooding."

"Brooding?" Inuyasha interrupted. "What's he got to brood about?"

"He was staring at his hand, the one with the kazaana, while he did it. For some reason he looked very serious."

"We should find him," Kagome said. Fear was written all over her face, and Sango shared the sentiment. If Miroku was worried about the curse in his hand, and Naraku was around and up to his usual no-good tricks, then the monk could be in very real danger. They all could.


	25. Tricks and Traps

The temple was quiet as Miroku and Hachi approached. It was still quite early, so Miroku would not have been surprised to find Mushin sound asleep somewhere. Still, as he entered the temple he called out, "Mushin-sama, are you in? It's me, Miroku."

Sure enough, the old man was sleeping on the floor of the temple's main room, his head pillowed on a sake jug. Irritated, Miroku kicked the jug right out from under him. "Wake up, you drunkard."

Mushin grunted as his head hit the floor. "Oh, it's you," he muttered, sitting up to rub one hand against his sore head. "Still alive, I take it."

"I could say the same thing to you. You're not likely to live long if you keep drinking like that."

Mushin scratched himself. "Did you come here to preach to me?"

Miroku set his irritation aside and told Mushin the story that had brought him back to the temple in such a hurry. While his former companions would have doubted the tale, Mushin listened with what passed for attentiveness from the old drunkard. "The youkai's claws tore the edge of the kazaana," Miroku concluded. "Can you heal it?"

"Let me take a look," Mushin said. He took hold of Miroku's hand and gently prodded at the cloth that covered the kazaana, sliding it back ever so slightly so he could take a look at the damage. He inspected the wound thoroughly, with an air of supreme seriousness, before finally letting Miroku's hand drop. He looked the younger man in the eye and said, "You will die tonight."

Miroku did his best to appear unmoved, but deep inside he felt a flash of panic.

"Kidding, kidding," the old monk assured him a moment later.

"Keep it up and I'll suck you up."

"Now, now. I can heal your injury, but for a while afterward you will have to avoid using the kazaana," Mushin said.

Hachi shuffled around the room to stand behind Miroku; he hadn't expected the tanuki to actually take much interest in what was going on. Ignoring Hachi for now, Miroku asked, "What would happen if I were to use it?"

"The kazaana will widen where it was torn, and you will die sooner." At least the old man didn't try to lie about it. "You know that when the kazaana starts to grow wider, even I won't be able to help you." Miroku made no response. There was nothing to say. "Well then, I'll go prepare some medicine. You go wash the impurities from your body."

"Well, excuse me for being impure," Miroku muttered, but he did as he was told.

He found fresh clothes in a tiny side room, exactly where they had always been, and changed out of his monk's robes and into the plain white ones. It was not far from the temple to a small waterfall where visitors could cleanse themselves. The sound of the water there was familiar, but not welcoming. Miroku had spent some time here as a youth, but no more than he'd had to. He faced the waterfall now as a task that must be tolerated, but not enjoyed in the least.

As he attempted to meditate, he was aware of Hachi lurking around, keeping an eye on him. "If there is something you'd like to say, go ahead and say it," he said without bothering to open his eyes.

Hachi stifled a startled sound. "So, uh, that's the same Mushin that raised you, Master?"

"Yes," Miroku said. He had a feeling this was not the question that Hachi really wanted to ask. "I learned all my bad habits from him."

Hachi murmured something that sounded like, "He doesn't seem so bad," but the water carried the sound away. Miroku did not mind. He found he wasn't much in the mood to talk, anyway.

For a while the only sound was that of the water rushing over the rocks and down the falls. It was almost peaceful. But despite the chill of the water, the torn kazaana in his palm still seemed to burn and pulse. The constant reminder of the danger he was in made it impossible for Miroku to relax.

When he judged that enough time had elapsed for Mushin to finish preparing whatever medicine he thought was necessary, Miroku made his way out from the water and back to the temple. He had guessed correctly; Mushin was waiting when he and Hachi had arrived.

"Wait out here," he murmured to Hachi. The tanuki obeyed, taking Miroku's staff from him and letting Miroku enter the temple alone. When Miroku had taken a seat across from Mushin, the old monk handed him a bowl of strange-smelling liquid.

"Drink up. That's a painkiller," Mushin explained. "You're going to need it."

"A painkiller? What for?"

"I've got to stitch up that tear in your hand. I can't have you moving around and reacting. So drink that, and you'll sleep soundly and feel no pain, and when you wake up your wound will be taken care of."

It sounded like a good idea on the surface, but Miroku was skeptical by nature. "Your hands are shaking," he pointed out.

"Ah, no matter," Mushin said amicably. "I'll just have another drink and that'll take care of that."

However dubious Miroku might be about that, he let Mushin go without much protest. If more alcohol was needed, then more alcohol was needed, he supposed. When Mushin had been gone for a while, Miroku found himself staring at the pain killer. Such a thing could come in handy in battle, but then again if it made him sleep it wouldn't do much good after all. Still, he supposed it would be better to go to sleep than to feel the pain of each stitch Mushin must sew into his hand to close the wound.

The medicine was bitter, but he drank it all. He discarded the bowl and then went to lay down on the mat that Mushin had set out for him. True to Mushin's word, the pain in his hand began to gradually subside, and it was not long before he began to feel drowsy. His whole body felt heavy, and he had the feeling that sleep would be a wondrous thing, but it wasn't enough to stop him from thinking that Mushin had been gone for a long time now.

Just as he was wondering if he should get up and look for the old bastard, Mushin returned. Looming over him, the old man asked, "How are you feeling?"

Miroku sighed. Turning his head to look at Mushin seemed to take a tremendous effort. "Feeling kind of sleepy."

"Then sleep," Mushin said, kneeling beside him. He rested a hand on Miroku's forehead and gently used his thumb and little finger to slide Miroku's eyelids closed. "It'll be done soon."

"Your hand's not shaking anymore," Miroku commented, feeling sleep begin to overtake him.

Even though he dozed, it seemed to him that Mushin said, "Was that easy or what? It seems you have a lot of confidence in this monk, Miroku..."

That seemed odd, though it took him a long time to arrive at that conclusion. Mushin did not normally talk to himself, even when he was quite drunk. When he went on to say that, "Now I'm going to make sure you rest in peace," Miroku knew that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

He wanted desperately to see what was going on, but knew that if he gave himself away now he might just make the situation worse. If he was going to reveal that the medicine had not worked as well as Mushin had thought, he needed to choose the right moment.

He felt the rush of air an instant before the knife cleaved down where he had been lying. Miroku could hardly believe he had managed to roll out of the way in time to avoid having his throat cut; a faint but growing pain in his shoulder, and the sensation of something warm and wet trickling down his arm from his shoulder, told him that he had not escaped unscathed after all.

"Oh," Mushin said, almost laughing, "so you weren't asleep after all."

"Who are you?" Miroku demanded. He did not know what was going on for sure, but he did know that something - or someone - was in control of the old monk, and it was not Mushin. The drunkard's body and voice might be the same as always, but something was definitely not right.

"What are you talking about? I'm Mushin, the man who raised you, of course."

Suddenly, sneaking off in the middle of the night seemed like a bad idea. He should have been more honest with Inuyasha and the others. His former companions would have made short work of whatever was controlling Mushin. But instead of their help, Miroku had only Hachi to rely on now. With that in mind, he began to make his way slowly toward the temple door. Why had he told Hachi to wait outside?

He did not make it far before his body ceased to obey him. Mushin followed patiently, laughing as Miroku collapsed to the floor. "You can't fight the medicine's effects forever. Now that your body is numb and you can no longer move, I'll take my time ending your life."

When Mushin struck again, Miroku somehow found the strength to stagger to his feet and send himself crashing into - and through - the nearest wall. He expected to hit the floor hard, but something squished underneath him, breaking his fall and accompanying it with a pained yelp. "Hachi!" Belatedly, he realized that Mushin's knife had only barely missed him this time. "Hand me my staff."

Hachi grunted. Miroku could feel the tanuki squirming beneath the wall panel, so he scuttled to one side as best he could. A moment later, Hachi popped out from beneath the panel, staff in hand. Miroku seized the weapon just in time to fend off another attack from Mushin. Nearby, Hachi flailed, trying to comprehend why Miroku was bleeding and why his mentor was the one attacking him. Finally, he seemed to arrive at some conclusion and took action.

The next thing Miroku knew, there was smoke everywhere and Hachi was catching hold of him and dragging him away from Mushin. "Climb on my back," the tanuki hissed.

Miroku gritted his teeth and tried, but ended up with less a climb and more of a fall. In the end, that sufficed. As soon as Hachi gauged that Miroku was secure enough on his back, he took off running. He might be a fat and often lazy tanuki, but Hachi knew how to run.

For a few moments Miroku thought they might actually get away, but a bad feeling in the air had begun to grow and as soon as they rounded a corner he saw why. There were youkai perched atop the temple buildings. _Lots _of youkai.

"Hachi," he said calmly, "Leave me here. Save yourself."

"N-no way! I won't just abandon you."

"Then take a good look around us. There are youkai up there." He could see them lurking around other places now, too, but did not see a need to upset Hachi further. Not when Hachi had turned out to be one person he could actually count on. "If you stay with me, you'll just be killed."

"I guess you're right," Hachi admitted.

"Once the medicine wears off, I'll be able to move again and defend myself, so I'll create a barrier to hold them off until then," Miroku said, doing his best to sound confident enough to convince Hachi to leave. There was no sense in both of them dying here.

As Hachi crept along the temple wall, Miroku realized that the youkai had not actually seen them yet. They must not have begun to gather until he and Hachi had escaped from Mushin. He glanced back once, pain twinging through his injured shoulder as he craned his head around, but there was no sign of the old monk anywhere.

"Where should we go?" Hachi asked.

Miroku needed to find a place that was out of the way, where a protective barrier would not quickly be noticed. Unfortunately the temple did not have a lot of strategic defensive locations. "Take me to my father's grave," he said reluctantly, knowing that the deep depression in the ground with the grave marker standing in its center was likely the only place where the youkai would not search for him.

Whether he sensed Miroku's distaste or not, Hachi did as he was told. Somehow he managed to make it past the youkai without being noticed, and to get them both down the slope without falling. When they had reached the bottom he helped Miroku, as gently as possible, to take a seat with his back to the grave marker.

"Go," he said when he was as settled as he was likely to get, "before they see us."

As soon as Hachi was safely out of the way, Miroku summoned a barrier that would hopefully keep the youkai from spotting him. With the medicine still in effect, he had to dig deep to find the spiritual power necessary to create the barrier, but If he could just keep out of sight and conserve his energy until the medicine wore off, he might have some chance of making it out of this mess alive.

He closed his eyes, the better to concentrate, and repeated, "Get out of here, Hachi. Go find someplace safe to hide for a while."

He did not open his eyes to see if Hachi obeyed. Maintaining the barrier required his full concentration, at least at first. As time went by, the medicine must have begun to weaken, or he must have begun to lose his patience, because maintaining the barrier became easy enough that he could risk opening his eyes again.

Night had fallen over the temple, and still the youkai swarmed around in their search for him. He could hear them talking amongst themselves, trying to figure out where he might have gone. He even thought he saw a couple of praying mantises among their number, no doubt relatives of the one he had slain so recently. Had it been a trap all along? He was beginning to think that it must have been, and that he should have realized it long ago.

If he had, he might not be here now, waiting for his inevitable demise within his father's grave.


	26. Finding Miroku

The group was somber as night fell. Inuyasha did not call for a stop, though it was obvious his mood was growing darker and darker, and not even Kagome was willing to argue with him. Not when they had found no sign of their missing companion all day.

For the past few hours, Sango had taken to riding on the back of Kagome's bicycle (no matter how much she distrusted the thing, it was better than more walking) and wondering. Maybe they had been unable to locate Miroku because he did not want to be found. When he left the group, he had to have known they would look for him. The part that mystified her was _why_ he did not want them to find him.

She just couldn't figure it out. He had been traveling with Inuyasha and Kagome up to this point. He'd even stuck around once Sango joined the group, even when things grew awkward. So why leave now? What had changed? Had something happened with the curse in his hand, as Myouga implied?

"Kagome-sama, can you think of any clues? Anything that might have happened?"

Kagome sighed unhappily. "We may have been traveling together, but I still don't really know anything about Miroku-sama."

Shippou's tone was mournful. "Do you think we'll ever see him again?"

Sango knew how he felt. She hated the thought of losing yet another companion, even if she had not been nearly so close to Miroku as she had been to the people of her village that had been taken from her.

"Feh. He just didn't want to rely on us, that's all," Inuyasha grumbled.

The way he said it, it sounded as if he was fed up with searching. Sango didn't know if she should speak up, but fortunately Kagome saved her the necessity of making that decision. "But if Naraku's involved, there might be a trap," she pointed out. "We can't just give up and leave him."

"Well then, where should we look?" Inuyasha snapped.

Sango watched them wordlessly, bracing for the argument that seemed imminent, but Kagome suddenly calmed and pointed to the sky. "Up there. It's Miroku-sama's friend, the tanuki!"

The creature in the sky looked nothing like a tanuki, at least at first. It was enormous, and surrounded by a familiar buzzing of wings.

"Naraku's insects," Sango gasped. Every clue they found seemed to point directly to Naraku. The thought of following Miroku into a trap like the one that had killed her family made Sango's blood run cold. And yet, she knew...

As the insects continued to harass him, there came a burst of smoke and then the tanuki was falling instead of flying. He hit the ground with an impressive thud a few moments later. Insects swarmed around as Inuyasha leaped to the rescue, but as soon as he unsheathed his sword, the insects withdrew to hover in the distance.

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked, abandoning her bike to see to the tanuki.

Shippou immediately followed her while Sango hesitated. "Sango," he asked, pausing halfway to his destination, "are you coming?"

"In a bit."

While Shippou, Kagome, and Inuyasha clustered around the tanuki, Sango slipped off to the first halfway private place she could find and put on her armor. She was certain now that Naraku was involved in whatever had caused Miroku to part company with the rest of them. She knew equally well that, if she asked the tanuki how to find Miroku, she would most likely be doing exactly what Naraku wanted her to do. And she knew, too, that she could not simply let Miroku go to his death in one of Naraku's insidious traps.

She would go after him, and she would save him the way she had been unable to save Father and Kohaku and all the others.

She refused to think of failure even as phantom pain throbbed in the scar on her back.

"Sango," Kagome murmured when she rejoined the group. "You're going to fight, aren't you?"

Since her voice seemed suddenly stuck in her throat, Sango simply gave an affirmative nod.

"Good," Inuyasha said. "Cause the tanuki says he can lead us to Miroku, and we're probably gonna have a hell of a fight on our hands."

"What's happened?"

"We'll talk on the way," Inuyasha replied.

Sango wondered how he thought they were all going to make the journey so quickly, but she had her answer soon enough. When the tanuki transformed for flight, he was large enough to carry them all and even to bring Kagome's bicycle along.

It was a strange feeling to climb onto the tanuki's back and slowly rise off the ground; Sango was only accustomed to flying on Kirara's back, and by now that was almost instinctive. This was just different enough to throw her off balance. But maybe, she thought, it would also help keep her on edge. After all, it was already past nightfall and they had been searching all day, but they still had to get to Miroku and get him out of whatever trouble he had gotten himself into.

Once they were airborne, Sango did not have to ask for the story. The tanuki seemed perfectly happy to repeat himself for her benefit. "Master Miroku's kazaana was torn by a mantis," he said. "Right now he can't use it at all. At least, that's what the monk said before he went all weird. He said that if the kazaana is opened, it will widen through the cut and shorten Miroku's lifespan."

No one had anything to say to that, least of all Sango. Nobody had mentioned Miroku's curse being related to his life, and now all she could think was that she might be too late again. He might already be dead by the time they arrived to rescue him.

When she first heard the buzzing, she thought it must be all in her head, but a glance over her shoulder told her it was all too real. "We're being followed," she said. "It's Naraku's insects... but it doesn't seem like they're trying to attack."

"That's because they're keeping a fucking guard on us," Inuyasha growled.

He was right. The insects never came any closer, as if they were perfectly content to simply follow. "But why?"

No one wanted to guess the answer, so they flew on in silence. Until... "That's it! That's the temple!"

As the tanuki flew lower, something seemed wrong about the temple. The air around it did not feel like the air of a holy place. Instead, it seemed dark and oppressive, as if it might smother them all at any moment. Sango had time to wonder if they had been wrong to trust the tanuki before the swarm of youkai came bursting out of the temple.

"Nobody said anything about a bunch of youkai," Sango murmured, suddenly glad that she had thought to change into her armor earlier. She was apprehensive at first, but once she had a chance to scan the swarm, she realized the massed youkai didn't pose much of a threat. As her father would have said, these were all small fry. There were a lot of them, but they were nothing she or Inuyasha couldn't handle.

"Go right through them, tanuki!" Inuyasha ordered.

The tanuki made a panicked noise, but he kept going full speed ahead at the approaching mass of youkai. Inuyasha stood and drew his sword, easily taking out the first youkai brave enough to come close, but it was plain to see that Inuyasha's strength, impressive as it was, would take too long to get through the youkai horde.

"Kirara, come on," she murmured. Kirara transformed in a flash of flames and a moment later Sango was on her back, Hiraikotsu to hand, the two of them charging into the air alongside the tanuki. "Go on, Inuyasha," she shouted above the rush of the wind. "These are just small fry. Leave them to me!"

While Inuyasha had to get close to strike, Sango could attack from a distance. Her Hiraikotsu was designed for just this sort of thing, and her years of training as a Taijiya had not been for nothing. Sango could take out several youkai with a little luck and a well-aimed throw, and she only had to do it once to convince Inuyasha to leave the mess to her.

She did not have the luxury of watching Inuyasha and the others make their landing at the temple; she had already drawn the attention of the youkai. So she hacked her way methodically through the masses of creatures, trusting to Kirara to help her stay out of the way of any attacks. This was the kind of thing they had always trained for. In a way, it was exhilarating... but her heart wasn't entirely in it.

She hated to be left behind, but time was of the essence and she knew this was the best way to handle the situation. She would have to trust that Inuyasha would save Miroku. And that if Naraku was lurking around somewhere, that they would save a piece of him for her to destroy.


	27. Together Again

When Inuyasha dropped out of the sky and started calling him a coward, Miroku was certain he must be imagining things in his final moments. But Inuyasha certainly _sounded _real when he said, "Oi, Miroku, listen here, you bastard..."

He knew he wasn't seeing things when Kagome and Shippou came rushing over in Inuyasha's wake. While Kagome slid down the slope of the grave, Shippou catapulted himself to land on Miroku's chest. "You idiot!" the kitsune shouted, no doubt to mask his fear, "What were you thinking running off without us like that?"

"You worried us!" Kagome added.

For once in his life, he was at a loss for words. Or perhaps he was just too weak to think of anything after losing so much blood and maintaining his protective barrier.

Over Inuyasha's shoulder, he saw something moving in the sky, cutting down the masses of youkai that gathered there: Sango. Somehow, he had not been expecting her to come along with the others.

"So you're still alive, houshi-sama?" she asked, shouting to be heard. He thought he saw a hint of a smile cross her face, though the distance between them made it hard to tell.

"Inuyasha, you say something, too," Kagome prodded.

"Enough of this," Inuyasha said. His ears twitched suddenly and he turned an instant before Miroku heard the footsteps in the grass. From his angle Miroku could not see who had approached, but he recognized the voice immediately.

"You lot have brought trouble to my temple," Mushin said warningly. The moment he heard the old man speak, Miroku tried to get to his feet. He knew that if he didn't stop Inuyasha, the hanyou might very well kill the old monk. He couldn't let that happen.

"I'll have to punish you," Mushin went on, oblivious to the danger.

"If you want me, just fucking try," Inuyasha challenged.

"Inuyasha." Miroku stumbled and would have fallen on his face if Hachi had not rushed over to support him. "Please do not kill that person."

"Yes, don't kill me," Mushin sneered. "After all, I'm the one who raised Miroku here."

Inuyasha growled. "Guess I have no choice then. I may not be able to kill you, but I'll hold you back, you corrupt priest!"

From here, Miroku could see that Mushin had not come unarmed. The old monk carried a large strand of houriki beads over his shoulder, and he used them against Inuyasha now. Against an ordinary youkai they would have been deadly, but Inuyasha used the Tessaiga to block. For a moment it seemed as if he might be able to slice his way through, but the beads merely undid the sword's demonic transformation and wrapped around him anyway.

When Inuyasha was well and truly tangled in the strands, Mushin charged the beads with enough holy energy to make the air crackle and hiss. Kagome and Shippou clustered beside Miroku and Hachi as they watched Inuyasha collapse to the ground.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out in horror as a group of youkai split off from the main horde and headed over to investigate. She was right to be alarmed; Mushin was not the only threat, after all. As soon as they realized that Inuyasha had been weakened, the youkai moved in for the kill.

With Inuyasha weakened and the youkai to do his dirty work, Mushin walked off to sit on the edge of the temple porch and drink from his ever-present jug of sake. Miroku looked away as Inuyasha faced down the youkai. Even with the houriki beads affecting him, Inuyasha was stronger than these youkai by far. It was their numbers that made them dangerous, and Sango was helping with that. So in the meantime, Miroku was determined to figure out what was going on with Mushin.

One moment the monk would act almost as if nothing were out of the ordinary, and the next he would try to kill someone. As if in response to Miroku's thoughts, Mushin laughed and said, "You're doing very well for being tied up in my houriki beads. But how long can you keep it up?" He charged the beads up again, and from somewhere out of Miroku's sight Inuyasha cried out in pain.

Miroku couldn't afford to see what trouble his friend was in. He wanted more than anything to figure out what was controlling Mushin. If the could just cure the monk, Miroku was certain they would put an end to this whole mess. But first they needed to know what was wrong.

"What's that?" Kagome asked. "Something just came from the old man's mouth when he spoke..."

"That's kokochuu."

"Myouga?" Sure enough, the flea youkai was sitting on Kagome's shoulder. Miroku wondered how long he'd been watching.

"He is being mind-controlled by them," Myouga went on.

"Can he be saved?" Miroku asked. If Mushin could not be saved, there might be no hope of healing the torn kazaana... and Miroku did not want to think about that.

"There should be a tsubo pot user nearby," Myouga said. "If you can get the pot away from him and point it at Mushin, then the kokochuu should return to the pot."

"Then we've got to go find that tsubo pot user!" Kagome decided. "Come on, Myouga!"

"What, me too?" the flea protested, but Kagome was already climbing out of the depression in the ground where they had been hiding. Miroku attempted to follow, but he was too weak yet to match Kagome's speed, especially uphill.

"Kagome-sama," he began, but she was already up and out, and was not listening to him. "Be careful."

As she ran off toward the temple building to search for the tsubo pot user, Sango, on Kirara's back, swooped down out of the sky to hover next to her. After a brief conversation, the two went off together.

Sango's willingness to help surprised him, and made him feel somewhat better about allowing Kagome to go off in search of the tsubo pot user alone. He had done nothing in particular to merit this sort of effort from her, or any of them, really. And yet here they all were, willing to do whatever it took to keep him safe and sound. Even though he'd kept his secrets hidden, even though he'd left them and done his best to cover his trail.

When had he found such loyal friends?


	28. Miroku's Fate

Sango barely had time to enjoy the job-well-done feeling of having eliminated the last of the youkai in the air before Kirara was swooping down to keep pace with Kagome. Amidst her surprise at the sudden drop, she had to admit she was curious as to why Kagome would leave the relative safety of that bowl-like depression in the ground.

"I've got rid of the youkai up above," she announced in order to draw Kagome's attention. "But what's Inuyasha doing?" He was obviously not faring well against the corrupted monk, but he had shrugged off her attempts to help in the fight against the false water god and now she was unsure if she should step in. With any luck, Kagome would provide her with a cue.

"Sango-chan, he's, uh..." Kagome glanced to her shoulder, where Sango could just make out the shape of Myouga. "He can't kill that man. That's Mushin, the man who raised Miroku. Something's controlling him, and Myouga thinks he knows what it is. If we can find the tsubo pot user..."

Sango did not hear most of the rest of Kagome's explanation; memories of her sorrow and fear at the loss of her own family swept over her, overwhelming her into horrified silence until the flea youkai hopped from Kagome's shoulder onto hers. "Sango! I appreciate your coming," Myouga said cheerfully.

Kagome's pretty face twisted with a grimace. "You mean it's safer over there?" she asked.

"I'll stick with you," Sango promised. "We'll all be fine. Now, where do you think this tsubo pot user is?"

"He'll be somewhere hidden, but where he can still keep an eye on what's going on," Myouga said.

"Do you have any ideas, Sango-chan?"

After a moment's thought, she did. "The temple. It will be hiding somewhere in the temple building. It had to have gotten control of Mushin somehow..."

"Then let's go!" Kagome said, hurrying off up the hill to where the temple building loomed.

Sango followed quickly, dismounting so as to better keep pace with Kagome. She trusted Kirara to follow along and help if she could without being told to do so.

The temple was quiet and seemed at first glance to be empty. It was not as shabby inside as Sango had expected, and there were very few potential hiding places inside. It would have helped tremendously to have advice from someone like Miroku, who knew the temple layout well, but that could not be helped. As she and Kagome carefully began to explore, both keeping their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, Sango became aware of a strange rumbling, grunting noise that seemed to be coming from a nearby storeroom.

She slowed, indicating silently for Kagome to pause and wait while she investigated. When she was sure Kagome would not follow, she inched over to the door to the store room. There was definitely something inside, something that was making the unusual sound.

She was not sure what they would find within that room, so it was better to play it safe. From a compartment hidden in her armor she withdrew a few small pellets that would burst when thrown against a hard surface, creating a thick fog. Moving quickly now, so as not to lose the element of surprise, she hooked her fingers around the edge of the door and slid it open. At the same time, she threw the fog-beads with the other hand.

The beads worked like a charm. Perhaps it worked a little too well, because the entire temple began to fill up with smoke.

Before Sango could go into the store room, Kagome had fired an arrow inside. She missed her mark, but only just, and the tsubo pot user knew it. He had been hiding among a group of large pots but now he bolted out the door, slipping past Sango before Kagome could ready another arrow.

"After him!" Sango ordered, already moving in pursuit. "If he gets out of the temple building, it's going to be a lot harder to find him again."

"Right!" Kagome said from somewhere behind her, but with the fog everywhere Sango did not want to risk losing sight of her target long enough to check on Kagome. She heard Kagome's footsteps as the other girl followed her, and tried to trust in her new friends to do their part the way she would have trusted her Taijiya comrades to do the same. Outside, the battle between Inuyasha and the monk raged on, but Sango paid little attention to it until she heard Miroku's tanuki friend cry out, "More are coming!"

More... she knew before she risked a glance out a nearby door that the tanuki meant more youkai, and felt her fragile plan of action shatter into a hundred shards. She couldn't hunt down the tsubo pot user and fend off another batch of youkai for Inuyasha, but she was reluctant to send Kagome after the tsubo pot user alone. If she could have sent Kirara along to protect Kagome, the decision would have been easier, but to take down that many youkai at once she would need to be airborne.

"Damn it," she muttered. She did not want to give up on Miroku's father figure to save all their lives, but recognized that she might have to. And all the while her Taijiya's instinct told her that each moment she was distracted was another opportunity for her target to escape. But she couldn't seem to look away, especially when Miroku pulled the rosary from his arm.

He did it so casually, despite the terrifying potency of the weapon he was about to unleash, that Sango could only stare. She had only seen that weapon in use once before, but she knew to fear its power. And thanks to the tanuki, she knew to fear for Miroku each time he used it, too.

If he used it now, torn as it was, he risked cutting his lifespan short.

_Kagome, get the tsubo pot back. Kirara, come with me! _The words died unsaid as the kazaana opened and began to pull the youkai in.

"Don't!" Kagome screamed.

"He opened it," Sango murmured in disbelief. He had really done it. He was really attempting to sacrifice himself to save the rest of them, when they were the ones who had come to save him.

And there was nothing she could do to stop it. She was too far away, and could not risk flying when the kazaana was open like that. She and Kirara would simply be sucked in if they tried it.

Fortunately, Inuyasha was close enough to act. He bashed Mushin on the head hard enough to send the old monk sprawling unconscious to the ground, leaving Sango wondering why he hadn't simply done that to begin with, and raced toward Miroku just as the monk lost his balance and tumbled back into the depression in the ground. While Miroku was still stunned from the fall, Inuyasha managed to retrieve the binding beads and wrap then back around the monk's arm, sealing off the kazaana before any more damage could be done.

Watching them, hearing Inuyasha threaten to break Miroku's arm should he ever attempt something so stupid again, Sango could finally breathe again. She knew they were far from out of danger, but at least now she and Kirara could go help with the youkai problem. It wouldn't be easy, but at least they could try...

She realized quickly that there would be no need - or time - for that. Inuyasha positioned himself between Miroku and the approaching demons and called out a challenge: "Hey, bastards! You're not coming one step further!"

Sango knew it was a bad idea to bait youkai like that, but she was not surprised to see Inuyasha do it. She adjusted her grip on her Hiraikotsu and prepared to charge into battle to assist him, but she did not get far before he drew his sword and attacked. All it took was one swing of his sword, and then light flashed and the youkai were no more. There had been at least fifty of them, and they were all gone after that single swing of his sword.

Sango and the others could do little but stare in the aftermath as shattered bits of youkai rained down from the heavens. While Sango could take out several youkai at once by using Hiraikotsu, she could not create damage on a scale anything like this. She had seen it with her own eyes, but she could not believe it. "With one slash of the sword," she murmured.

"He used the true power of Tessaiga for the first time!" Kagome observed.

"It's amazing," Sango agreed, though Kagome did not seem to hear her. No one had told her that Inuyasha's sword was supposed to have any sort of special power, but it had certainly come in handy.

While Kagome headed back toward their friends, their objective forgotten now that the immediate threat to their lives had been taken care of, something else caught Sango's attention. Turning, she watch the tsubo pot user make a break for the tree line. In the moment that it abandoned its cover within the temple, Sango knew that the moment to strike was now or never.

Her Hiraikotsu made short work of the creature, slicing it in half while leaving the tsubo pot to fall to the ground unharmed.

"Great shot, Sango-chan!" Kagome cheered. "Let's go get that pot!"

Sango trailed behind while Kagome ran to retrieve the pot, and together they made their way to where Mushin was still lying unconscious in the grass.

"Is he still alive?" Kagome asked, trepidation in her voice as the two of them knelt beside the old man.

"He should just be unconscious from the blow to his head," Sango assured her, though she knew that head injuries could be tricky. She didn't think Inuyasha would have hit him hard enough to cause permanent damage, but it would be impossible to tell until the old man woke up. "Try the tsubo pot."

Kagome aimed the pot toward the old monk, and just as Myouga had said, strange hairlike filaments began to emerge from the old man's mouth. They twisted alarmingly through the air, but as soon as they found the pot they whooshed inside it. But even when the last of the kokochuu was gone, Mushin remained still and silent on the ground.

"He won't wake up?" Kagome asked in despair. "The kokochuu strands all came out..."

Inuyasha walked over to kick the monk's head. "Wake up, old man," he grumbled. Miraculously, his callous approach worked. The old man opened his eyes and began to absent-mindedly scratch his chest.

"Well, it seems like he's okay now," Kagome commented.

"Miroku needs your help," Inuyasha went on, ignoring Kagome's dismay. "The idiot went and opened the kazaana while you were sleeping. Can you fix it?"

Mushin stared up at him with eyes that only slowly focused. "I can try to repair the damage, but I can make no promises."

While Kagome and Inuyasha helped the old man to his feet, Sango asked, "Is there somewhere private where I can change out of my armor?"

"Just use one of the storage rooms," Mushin said. To Inuyasha, he added, "Go. Bring Miroku to the temple. And do it quickly. I'll have to sew up the tear in the kazaana, and I'm going to need to make some more medicine for that. As you can see, I'm in no condition to go hunting for herbs right now..." He turned to look at Kagome. "And see if you can find another jug of sake..."

Sango did not stick around to be assigned some duty or other. She loped up to the temple, Kirara on her heels, and sought out a storage room for a little privacy. She had plenty of time to change back into her regular clothes while Inuyasha and Kagome dealt with Mushin and Miroku, so she did not rush and instead gave herself a little time to breathe - and think. Thankfully, Mushin seemed fully restored to his usual self after everything, even if his usual self was a lazy drunk. At least he knew how to tend to Miroku's injuries.

By the time she returned to where Kagome and the others were waiting on the porch, Mushin had already taken Miroku inside to tend to the wounded kazaana and there was nothing left to do but wait and hope for the best. Sango seated herself to one side of where Kagome and Inuyasha were sitting, and smiled a little as Kirara and Shippou came over to sit with her.

Silence loomed over the group as they waited, and Sango was not about to be the first to speak. Instead, she listened to the sound of the wind rustling the grass, her ears straining for any sound from within the temple. She wondered about that strange, perfectly round depression in the ground with the marker at its center. The marker looked like a gravestone, but it was unlike any grave Sango had ever seen before.

It was fairly easy for Sango to stay still and quiet while they waited; she had a lot of experience waiting for companions to receive medical treatment after tough missions. It was less easy for Shippou. Sango remained calm and still, but the young kitsune began to fidget impatiently almost immediately. She could tell he was trying his best not to be annoying or ask questions, so she left him alone. He reminded her very much of her brother Kohaku, when he had been young...

Thinking of Kohaku made her think of Father and all the other lost Taijiya, and she was glad all over again that they had been able to save Miroku without sacrificing Mushin. Miroku had already lost his true father. She could not imagine the pain he would feel at losing a second father figure. No wonder Naraku had tried to separate Miroku from the group like this...

He had been trying to kill Miroku or, failing that, do to him what he had done to Sango. Doing her best to hide her dark and angry thoughts from her companions, she was glad to have been able to thwart Naraku this time. If only the coward had showed his face, and given them a chance to defeat him once and for all...

Finally, Shippou could take it no longer. "What's taking so long?" he asked.

"Well, Mushin said he would have to sew the wound shut," Kagome explained, gentle and infinitely patient with the kitsune, "so it's going to take some time."

Shippou pouted.

As if in response to his disappointment, the door to the temple opened a few minutes later to admit Mushin. "Sheesh, he's so reckless," the old man muttered.

Kagome was on her feet in an instant, Shippou leaping to cling to her shoulder as she did. "How is Miroku-sama?"

"He's sleeping," Mushin said. He turned to Inuyasha then. "You're Inuyasha, aren't you? Come with me. I need to talk with you."

As Sango watched them go, she couldn't help but frown. "What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know," Kagome answered. "It seemed like everything was going to be okay with Miroku-sama... Maybe we should go see how he's doing."

Sango hesitated. "But the old man said he was sleeping."

"Weren't you worried about Miroku-sama, Sango-chan?"

"Well, yes," she admitted. She was not entirely sure how she felt about Miroku. Until now she had mostly been thinking of how Naraku must not be allowed to destroy another family. It had just been a coincidence that the "family" in question had been Miroku's. And of course she had been worried when she found out the kazaana was tied to Miroku's very life...

But doubts lingered. His behavior was one contradiction after another. She was never sure if it was safe to trust him, because at any moment he might shift from trustworthy to lecherous again, and she did not wish to be taken advantage of.

"Come on," Kagome said, unable to stand the waiting any longer. "Mushin-sama left the door open. Let's just check in on Miroku-sama and see how he's doing."

Sango followed rather stiffly as Kagome seated herself beside the monk. He looked almost vulnerable, dressed in a white robe and sleeping off the last of whatever medicine Mushin had given him. But he was alive, and she supposed that was what counted.

"Miroku-sama," Kagome began quietly. "Sango-chan and I are here to see you."

Miroku did not stir, so Sango judged it safe enough to sit beside him with Kagome. She watched him quietly for a few moments, letting her thoughts wander. When he gave no sign of waking up any time soon, she murmured, "Houshi-sama... He's very strong, isn't he?"

Seeing Kagome's slightly confused glance, she went on, "He always seemed so carefree and cheerful, no matter what was happening." No matter that he must have known the curse in his hand might kill him. No matter that he knew an injury could be fatal. And he had kept it a secret from them, acting as if everything was normal... and she and Kagome had been cold to him, even when he might have been dying, and he'd simply shrugged it off. Or pretended to.

Silence fell over them as Kagome doubtlessly contemplated the same things that Sango was thinking of.

Sango was wondering if she ought to make a point of apologizing to the monk later - she had wronged him, yes, but he had also made a point of not letting her know anything was wrong - when suddenly Miroku opened his eyes.

"Ah," she said, to make sure Kagome and Shippou noticed. "He's awake."

"Miroku!" Shippou was quick to rush to the monk's side.

"Miroku-sama!" There were tears in Kagome's eyes as she spoke. Sango did not want to admit it, but there might have been a tear or two in her eyes, too.

"I'm still alive, huh," Miroku commented. He sounded quite groggy and out of sorts, not that Sango could blame him after what he had been through.

"You're going to be fine," Kagome assured him. "Mushin-sama treated your wounds while you were sleeping."

"I see." With some effort, Miroku raised his arm so he could inspect the hand in question. He examined it for a long moment, then gave a startled shout.

Unthinking, Sango followed Kagome's example and rose onto her knees and leaned forward to get a better look at what had upset him so much. It seemed like the closer she tried to get, the farther away Miroku moved his hand... until he finally let her get a look and and she found herself immediately rewarded by the feeling of a hand rubbing her bottom.

Her heart suddenly raced in alarm even though she knew, without even having to think about it, who the culprit was. She seized the nearest object, which happened to be a bucket, and brained the damned monk with it. Not hard enough to seriously harm him, but enough to effectively tell him "hands off."

He sighed almost happily, as if it had been worth the injury to grope her like that, but she couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. It seemed like every time she let herself care about him or allowed herself to trust him, even just a little bit, he couldn't help but let her down.

At least, she thought sourly, this was a good sign that their monk was well on his way back to being his usual self.


	29. Respite

The temple was quiet after Sango stormed off. Inuyasha and Mushin had returned in time to see the worst of Sango's ire, but Inuyasha lingered while Kagome and Shippo snuck off in search of Sango and Mushin departed in search of more sake.

"Don't do anything stupid like that again, got it?" Inuyasha snapped when they were alone.

Miroku considered feigning ignorance, but opted for silence. He had learned his lesson; Inuyasha and the others had given him their loyalty, and there was no going back from that. And in return, he rather suspected they had earned his loyalty, as well. After all, they'd saved his life. Even Sango had been so worried about him that she'd fallen for his stupid ploy and let him feel her up, he recalled with a smile. Sure, she'd hit him for it afterward, but that woman did have a fine ass...

"Wipe that smirk off your face," Inuyasha groused. "I mean it."

"I know," he admitted. He did his best to appear serious, as the hanyou requested, but he would not promise that he would never attempt to leave the group again, no matter how moved he felt by their recent display of loyalty. If he felt that the kazaana threatened them... he knew he would slip away again. They had saved his life. He would not be responsible for taking theirs.

Inuyasha stared at him intensely for a moment, perhaps trying to judge if he meant what he had said. Miroku pretended not to notice.

Finally: "We're leaving when you're ready."

"Of course," he replied. Inuyasha was already out the door and gone, but he had no doubt that the hanyou had heard him.

The past couple of days had taken more out of him than he would have liked to admit, and though he told himself that he would get up and change back into his own clothes so they could be on their way, when Inuyasha had gone and all was silent, he soon found himself fast asleep. And when he slept, he dreamed.

He dreamed that he stood beside Sango, and this time when he grabbed for her ass she didn't beat him for it. Instead, she caught his hand in hers and wordlessly met his gaze. He woke suddenly in confusion, wondering what that dark and hurt look in her eyes had meant, or if it had been all in his head...

And then he was confused all over again because the eyes he was looking into were gold and belonged to Inuyasha, when he could have sworn they should be Sango's warm brown eyes.

"About damn time you woke up," Inuyasha grumbled as Miroku finally came fully awake. "Come on, we've wasted enough time on your sorry ass already."

He could tell by the light that Inuyasha was right. It had been late morning when he had awoken from Mushin's medicine to find the kazaana healed, or as healed as it could be. It was now late afternoon, nearly dusk. He had not intended to sleep at all, much less for so long. But the last of the medicine's effects had faded now. He felt alert and reasonably well. "Give me a few minutes. I know a good place to camp not far from here," he said.

Inuyasha seemed to accept that answer, and left him alone again.

When he had got up and out of bed, Miroku noticed that someone had found his clothes and left them, along with a bowl of rice, near the door to the room. He wondered briefly as he ate who had been so kind, and decided that it was probably Kagome. Sango was probably still too angry to consider being kind to him.

A while later, when he was as ready as he was going to get, he met up with the others on the large porch that surrounded the temple.

Kagome watched him with shining eyes and asked, "Are you feeling better, Miroku-sama?" while Sango stubbornly refused to so much as look in his direction.

"I'm feeling much better," he told her.

"I'm glad!"

Shippou, who was clinging to her shoulder, punctuated the response with a hearty nod.

He appreciated their enthusiasm, but the entire group fell silent and turned to listen expectantly when Mushin emerged from the temple.

"Miroku," the old man began, "I have done what I could to help you. But I must warn you: for at least one month, until the wound has truly healed, you must not open the kazaana under any circumstances."

"I understand," he said. Mushin eyed him skeptically; the old man knew him better than anyone else, well enough to know that if it meant getting a shot at Naraku, Miroku wouldn't hesitate to open the kazaana again at that very moment.

"If you open the kazaana before it has healed," Mushin cautioned, "you will widen the tear, and there may be nothing I can do to help you again."

"I understand," he repeated, and this time Mushin let it go. There was nothing to be done about it. He would do what was necessary to destroy Naraku, even if it meant putting his life at risk. Before Mushin could try to caution him further, he turned to Inuyasha and said, "I'm ready."

"Then let's get moving," Inuyasha said in a tone that brooked no argument.

There were no goodbyes. There never were. Miroku simply followed where Inuyasha and the others led, and did not look back. He could feel Mushin's gaze on his back for a long time after they left the temple.

As they made their way down the road it did not escape his notice that Sango was careful to walk well away from him. He didn't mind, because she also insisted on walking ahead of him. And with Kagome walking and chatting beside her, that meant he had a very pleasant view as they left Mushin's temple behind. If only more days could end so pleasantly...


	30. Scars of the Past

There was something about that monk... Something so effectively charming and disarming that Sango just kept falling for the act. The first time she let Miroku slip past her defenses, she had been angry but had considered it a simple mistake. But this second time left her feeling disheartened. She had let her guard down. She had let him dupe her. A Taijiya warrior should know better than to be taken so easily, especially when it was the second time. Had she really lost so much of her training along with the rest of her people?

As they left Mushin's temple, Kagome was well aware of Sango's bad mood. She didn't comment when Sango insisted on walking well away from Miroku, and she kept her chatter to a minimum, at least until Sango's temper had cooled a bit.

For the most part, the entire group was subdued. It seemed none of them was quite ready to talk about what had happened back at the temple yet. The threat to Miroku's life had worried them all, and now they were all shocked at the power Inuyasha had released from his sword in order to save Miroku from the youkai.

While they walked, while dusk settled over the land, Sango found herself wondering just how much she _didn't_ know about her traveling companions. It seemed like they all had their secrets...

As dusk turned to dark, Miroku said, "The camp site I know about is a little way ahead."

With their destination at hand, Inuyasha dropped back to walk beside Miroku, muttering angrily all the while. Sango ignored him, focusing instead on finding the camp site Miroku had mentioned. The sooner she could get to bed, the sooner she could put this day behind her and move on to the next.

The monk was right; it was only a little while later that they found a small path leading off the main road. The path meandered a bit before ending at a clearing in the forest that was big enough for a sizeable campsite. There was an old fire pit in the middle of it, indicating that it had been used quite often in the past, though it was empty now. She could hear the faint sound of moving water, and there was a certain warmth and humidity to the air that told her a hot spring was nearby. Kagome noticed it, too, and nudged her gently. "I think we aren't far from a hot spring," Kagome whispered.

Sango nodded.

"If they keep talking like that," Kagome went on, motioning conspiratorially at Inuyasha and Miroku, who were still in deep conversation, "we should try for a bath."

After the past few days, a soak in a hot spring sounded heavenly. "Someone needs to keep an eye on the monk," Sango said bluntly. Miroku had already been far too forward with her. She was not going to give him another chance to take advantage.

Kagome nodded. "We'll ask Shippou once we get camp set up."

And that was exactly what they did. They remained quiet while Inuyasha and Miroku continued their conversation, apparently oblivious to their female companions' plans. After waiting a few minute, Sango and Kagome were able to slip away unnoticed, taking Shippou with them and leaving Kirara to stand guard.

It was easy to find the spring, even in the dark. A well-worn path led the way from the campsite.

"Are they still busy?" Kagome asked once Sango had scouted the spring for intruders or dangerous animals.

Shippou slipped off through the trees only to return a few moments later. "Looks like it," he reported happily.

"Good, then let's get in the water," Kagome said.

While Kagome got undressed and slipped into the hot spring, Sango thought of something. "It's obvious that the monk would try to peep, but Inuyasha does, too?"

"He won't look," Kagome said, her tone tense with displeasure. "He acts like he doesn't even care."

_Do you _want _him to look?_ Sango bit back the words, knowing they would only cause trouble. But still, she wondered. She knew that Kagome and Inuyasha had some sort of a connection, however strange it seemed to her, but she had not really thought that they had _that _sort of relationship...

Time was wasting, so she decided Kagome and Inuyasha's romantic relationship - or lack thereof - was something she could worry about later on. She hurried out of her clothes and carefully made her way into the steaming hot water.

It was only when Kagome gasped that she realized her hair had fallen to one side, revealing the mass of scar tissue that crossed her upper back. Unpleasant memories shocked through her, but she did her best to push them away. She was getting quite good at that - keeping the memories at bay. But she could tell that Kagome was still bothered by the sight, so in a noncommittal way she said, "Oh, the scar."

"From a youkai?" Kagome guessed.

Sango sat down on a submerged rock that wasn't too far from where she had been standing. She felt better having something solid and stable beneath her, rather than searching for safe footing in the depths of the spring. "No, it was my brother, before he died," she explained falteringly, realizing that while the others kept their secrets from her, she was keeping her own from them.

_- Kohaku's chain scythe, slicing through the air, piercing effortlessly through her armor to puncture her back -_

"Naraku laid a trap at his castle."

_- Kohaku's face covered in blood, her blood, Father's blood, blood dripping from the blade of the chain scythe -_

"Kohaku was controlled by a youkai. He killed our friends. He killed our father..."

_- Kohaku, at the very end, staring at her with wide, sad eyes. Her little brother... - _

"In the end, though..." She trailed off, struggled to set her thoughts back on their proper path. "He was always a timid and kind child."

_"Ane-ue... I'm scared..."_

"The youkai changed him into a killer... but before he died, he returned to being my little brother again."

She could not bring herself to tell Kagome how the guards had fired arrows at Kohaku, how they had fired at her, how she had been buried alive with the bodies of the other Taijiya... It was too painful a memory to share, and it would only upset Kagome more.

If only the water from the hot spring could soothe the wounds in her heart the way it eased her sore body.

"I'm sorry," Kagome said. Her voice was gentle and earnest, as if Sango needed confirmation that she had meant no harm. "I never meant to bring up such a sad story."

"It's okay," Sango assured her. "I mean, everyone that deals with Naraku seems to have some sort of tragic story, don't they?" Like the monk and his curse.

Once again, there was Miroku, intruding on her thoughts. And, she thought upon hearing the telltale rustle of dead vegetation underfoot, there he was, intruding on her bath, too. "Besides," she went on warningly, glad to see Kagome turn to follow her gaze, "they did too come to peek." And with that she swept her arm across the top of the spring, hurling water into the darkness at the other side of the spring.

When no alarm was raised, Sango motioned for Kagome to stay where she was while she went to investigate. Of course, Kagome did no such thing, so they both crept over to where the noises had been coming from, only to find nothing more than a stunned - and sopping wet - monkey lying in the brush. Sango frowned. "Only a monkey?"

She'd been so sure it was Miroku lurking in the bushes, she was almost disappointed to find out it wasn't.

And then to her horror, as if her thoughts had summoned them, Inuyasha and Miroku stepped out of the gloom right in front of her.


	31. Foreseen Consequences

Miroku's head throbbed unpleasantly as he settled himself beside the fire again. Nearby, Inuyasha sulked furiously, but Miroku could not share the hanyou's displeasure. After all, the two of them had just been granted a most marvelous vision. And no matter how forceful Sango's infuriated punches had been, they could not make him forget what he had seen: Sango and Kagome, utterly naked, standing thigh-deep in the hot spring.

He had expected to see Kagome in the nude, but somehow he had thought Sango would be more guarded than that. She seemed like the type to wear a robe - or her Taijiya armor, he thought and tried to hide a smile - even while bathing. He'd thought it would be a few more weeks of peeping through cracks in walls and peering past doors _accidentally _left ever-so-slightly ajar before she let her guard down enough that he could get a better look at her without her clothing. He had seldom been so happy to be wrong.

True, the light had been dim due to the late hour and it had been somewhat difficult to see, but...

"You should have known better," Shippou scolded.

On the contrary, when Miroku had suggested that they see what all the fuss was about - when he had pointed out that the girls might be in danger - he had known exactly what he was getting into. Of course, he knew better than to mention this to Inuyasha, but it was hardly surprising to creep up to the edge of the hot spring where their female companions were bathing and wind up catching a glimpse of something that they were not meant to see.

"They wouldn't even listen to me," Inuyasha grumbled. "I wasn't there to spy on them! I was just trying to make sure they were safe! Who knows what Naraku might be up to next?"

"Never mind that," Miroku said amicably, closing his eyes and picturing the scene at the spring all over again. "They will think what they will. And after all, we were given a splendid view just now."

"You would say that, you damned pervert," Inuyasha retorted, golden eyes flashing with anger. Clearly he was ready to lay all the blame at Miroku's feet, without considering that he might have chosen to stay behind rather than investigate whatever had disturbed their companions' bath, and thus remained blameless in the eyes of Kagome and Sango.

"They will forgive us," Miroku promised serenely. "Eventually."


	32. Nighttime Thoughts

An awkward silence descended when Kagome and Sango finally crept back to camp. Inuyasha took one look at Kagome, promptly flushed bright red, and then refused to even look at either of the women. For his part, Miroku remained where he was. His eyes were closed, as if he was deep in meditation. As if he was entirely innocent, and not the least bit fazed by what had happened at the hot spring earlier.

Sango narrowed her eyes to glare at him, but when this earned no response she decided it wasn't worth it and followed Kagome toward the fire. She made a point of sitting as far away from Miroku as she could get without sitting directly across from him, but he gave no sign of noticing that she was even there at all. She glared for a moment longer.

Let him pretend innocence if he wanted. She knew what had happened, just as he did. And she was taking no more chances this night.

"Kirara," she murmured.

At the sound of her name, the cat got up from where she had been resting by the fire and came to see what Sango wanted. Sango pulled her close, hugging the small form to her chest and whispering, "Kirara, will you keep watch tonight?"

Later on, as she lay with Kirara curled protectively around her, Sango could not sleep. No matter how she tried, she could not seem to stop her thoughts from racing wildly. She should have been able to rest easily, knowing that for the moment at least, everything was at peace. Miroku's kazaana was mended, if not healed, and Naraku's minions had been defeated. They had a chance to breathe and rest for a bit.

And yet she could not. They were victorious, but it had been a close thing. Too close. And after...

Sango squeezed her eyes shut and willed her mind to calm before outrage could ruin any chance of sleep, to no avail. She just couldn't stop thinking about how determined she had felt when she had found out Miroku's life was in danger, or how she and Inuyasha and Kagome had put themselves on the line against unbeatable odds to save him. Or how he'd repaid her efforts by groping her and spying on her while she bathed.

She could not deny that he had deceived her on purpose back at the temple, just for a chance to feel her up. She felt her face grow warm just thinking of it. She had fallen for the ruse so easily...

And in spite of herself, she wanted very much to think that the spying at the hot spring had not been intentional. She had even said as much to Kagome, pointing out that he and Inuyasha had only showed up after the ruckus with the monkey, but now that she thought about it, she wondered if she should have just kept her mouth shut. Inuyasha, at least, had seemed genuinely embarrassed afterward. But not Miroku. He had seemed suspiciously calm, calm enough to make her think he might simply have been waiting for an opportunity that would allow him to appear blameless while still sneaking a peek.

Tired of this line of thinking and wishing she could just get some rest, she sighed and opened her eyes. Maybe if she talked with Kagome for a little while, she would feel better. But Kagome was facing away from her, wrapped up in her sleeping bag so that Sango could not tell if she was awake or not. Rather than disturb her, Sango turned her gaze to their other companions.

Inuyasha had taken to the trees as soon as he thought the girls were sleeping, and now there was no sign of him at all. And Miroku... the monk was staring into the fire, or perhaps past it to where Kagome and Sango were resting.

For a moment that surprised her, but of course he was awake. He had spent most of the day sleeping, after all. Too bad talking to him would do her no good at all.

Lest he catch her looking at him and mistake her intentions, she turned onto her side and buried her cheek against Kirara's warm fur. She felt her anger finally begin to fade, but it left a lingering sadness in its wake.

How many times, before, had she and Kirara slept together like this on the road? She couldn't remember. And those times seemed impossibly distant now, anyway. Now, Kirara was all she had left of that life. Of home.

And she missed home very, very much. She missed her father and her brother, and everyone else from the village that was now dead and gone. She longed for the days when she went hunting with her friends and family, or on her own, and had a home to return to when the battle was done. She missed seeing the excitement on everyone's faces as they gathered round to see what she and the other slayers had brought back with them...

She fought against tears for what was no longer and would never be again. She would not allow Miroku to see her so vulnerable, but it was hard to keep the sadness at bay at night, when everyone else was asleep and the darkness pressed in around her, bringing the worst of her memories with it.

Despite her efforts, her mind flitted back to that horrible night, the night her family had died and her world had shattered. She had lost everyone... and today she had almost lost Miroku, too. _He's always irritating me_, she thought, _but I can't stand the thought of losing even him._

She had to open her eyes and look around the camp again in order to calm herself. Her companions might be sleeping, but they were still there. They were still alive; she wasn't entirely alone. Kirara was still with her, and she had Inuyasha to guard her back and Kagome and Shippou to lend a sympathetic ear... but reminding herself of that did little to quell the loneliness in her heart. They had been traveling and working together for a little while now, but in the dark and quiet of the night Sango could admit, if only to herself, that she still did not truly feel like a part of the group.

She tried to fit in... and she was terrified of losing them, when they had taken her in after everything she had done, but she still felt like an outsider. So far, Inuyasha seldom allowed her to join him in battle, and then only if she forced the issue. It was obvious that the monk did not respect her as a warrior or as a woman. And Kagome...

She would miss Kagome if they were ever to part ways. Sango had gotten along well enough with the other girls in her village, but Kagome was the closest thing she had ever had to a female friend.

She felt a little guilty for having been irritated by the other girl's cheerful talkativeness in the past, realizing now that it was Kagome's support and good cheer that had kept her afloat when she might otherwise have drowned under the weight of her grief and despair. It was Kagome that had ensured her a place in the group so that she did not have to bear the pain alone, who was always there to check if she was doing all right, or to share in her indignation at Miroku's antics. And it was Kagome, she could see clearly now, that had bound all of them together in the first place.

But now that she had truly become aware of it, she had to wonder if that would be enough. The next time Naraku tried to drive them apart, would they pull together and make it through, as they had this time... or would they fall apart?

Seeing for the first time just how precariously balanced their little group was, she was afraid to find out.


	33. A New Day

The day dawned bright and clear, a welcome sight and a good sign as far as Miroku was concerned. He and his companions had been through quite enough darkness lately, and he was ready to put that behind them and move on in their quest. They still had plenty of Shikon jewel shards to find, and Naraku was still lurking out there somewhere, waiting to strike, but Miroku did not allow himself to dwell on those things. He had too many other things to appreciate today.

Like the fact that he was still alive at all. And that he had been reunited with all of his companions in spite of his attempts to leave them. And even though he had managed to thoroughly anger both of the women, they were all still with him this morning.

Not even Sango's half-hearted glower over breakfast could dampen his mood. He understood why she was angry, and although he considered himself blameless, he had already decided that he would let her cool off before pushing his luck. Although, if he found himself gifted with the proper opportunity, he thought he might not be able to resist.

At Inuyasha's insistence, they were on the road again as soon as breakfast was finished. The hanyou led the way, with Sango and Kagome following a long a little way behind, chatting amongst themselves. Since he did not much feel like talking just yet, Miroku took up the rear. If not for the painful sensation of the wounded kazaana as it slowly healed, he might have thought it was any ordinary day.

The sun was high in the sky before they encountered anyone else on the road. Miroku had been perfectly happy to pass the day without incident, since it seemed like lately they had run into one problem after another, so when he caught sight of the figure up ahead on the road he hoped that it was simply another traveler. But it only took a few moments of watching to realize that something wasn't right. The way the man was walking, it almost looked like he was seriously injured.

Inuyasha stopped walking and sniffed the air. As Miroku came up behind Sango and Kagome, he saw what Inuyasha had smelled: the man was covered in blood.

"That man," Kagome murmured in horror as the figure staggered ever closer. "What's going on?"

Seeing the other travelers at last, or perhaps just hearing Kagome speak, the man hurried toward them. "Help me," he managed to say before collapsing to the ground practically at Kagome's feet.

At close range, Miroku could see that the man was indeed grievously injured. His clothes were soaked with blood, particularly down the back, as if he had been stabbed there. It was a miracle the man had made it this far, when Miroku knew the next village was quite a way down the road yet. While his companions looked on, he knelt and searched vainly for any sign of life; there was none. "He's stopped breathing," he told the others.

"Not just him," Inuyasha said quietly, sniffing at the air again. "I smell blood. A lot of it. Probably a lot of people."

Hurt or dead? He did not say.

"Then we have to help!" Kagome said, even as Inuyasha had already taken off down the road. Not wanting to be left behind, she clambered onto her bicycle and started after him.

Miroku paused to say a few words for the dead man, and was a bit surprised to see that Sango had waited for him. He wondered what she might be thinking, but did not dwell on it. There would be time for that later. "Come on. We don't want to be left behind."


End file.
